Figure 3. Glycosyltransferase recognition motifs.

(A) To determine an enzyme's recognition motif, we require comprehensive data on all possible acceptor substrates on which it acts. Here we show the example of FUT8, which typically acts on any oligosaccharide acceptor containing its preferred motif (dashed red ovals). However, the enzyme can sometimes act when the motif is missing (top row) or fail to act when the motif is present (bottom row). (B) For each enzyme, we highlight its approximate recognition motif by dashed red ovals or boxes. Enzymes with small recognition motifs are highly promiscuous, those with large recognition motifs are highly specific.