A new enzymatic method of selective phosphorylation of nucleosides

X X Ž X . The phosphorylation of inosine in the 5 -position to produce inosine-5 -monophosphate 5 -IMP was studied in a number Ž . of microorganisms from our culture collection using pyrophosphate PPi as the phosphate source. Although many of the microorganisms screened were able to phosphorylate inosine, phosphotransferase activity specific to the 5-position was found to be distributed among the bacteria belonging to the family Enterobacteriacea. Morganella morganii NCIMB10466 was selected for further study of 5-IMP production. When M. morganii intact cells were taken approximately 0.2 mgrml Ž . X Ž . wet weight, 6.02 mgrml 11.4 mM of 5 -IMP were synthesized from 10 mgrml 37.3 mM of inosine and 250 mgrml Ž . 560.0 mM of tetrasodium pyrophosphate decahydrate in 9 h. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.