The GGDEF domain, which has been named after the conserved central sequence pattern GG[DE][DE]F is widespread in prokaryotes. It is typically present in multidomain proteins containing regulatory domains of signaling pathways or protein-protein or protein-ligand interaction modules, such as the response regulatory domain, the PAS/PAC domain, the HAMP domain, the GAF domain, the FHA domain or the TPR repeat. However a few single-domain proteins are also known. The GGDEF domain is involved in signal transduction and is likely to catalyze synthesis or hydrolysis of cyclic diguanylate (c-diGMP, bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid), an effector molecule that consists of two cGMP moieties bound head-to-tail [ (PUBMED:11557134) (PUBMED:11682196) (PUBMED:11119645) ].
Structural studies of PleD from Caulobacter crescentus show that this domain forms a five-stranded beta sheet surrounded by helices, similar to the catalytic core of adenylate cyclase [ (PUBMED:15569936) ].
Family alignment:
There are 251213 GGDEF domains in 250015 proteins in SMART's nrdb database.
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Evolution (species in which this domain is found)
Taxonomic distribution of proteins containing GGDEF domain.
This tree includes only several representative species. The complete taxonomic breakdown of all proteins with GGDEF domain is also avaliable.
Click on the protein counts, or double click on taxonomic names to display all proteins containing GGDEF domain in the selected taxonomic class.
Identification of a novel response regulator required for the swarmer-to-stalked-cell transition in Caulobacter crescentus.
J Bacteriol. 1995; 177: 6223-9
Display abstract
The onset of motility late in the Caulobacter crescentus cell cycle depends on a signal transduction pathway mediated by the histidine kinase PleC and response regulator DivK. We now show that pleD, whose function is required for the subsequent loss of motility and stalk formation by the motile swarmer cell, encodes a 454-residue protein with tandem N-terminal response regulator domains D1 and D2 and a novel C-terminal GGDEF domain. The identification of pleD301, a semidominant suppressor of the pleC Mot phenotype, as a mutation predicted to result in a D-53-->G change in the D1 domain supports a role for phosphorylation in the PleD regulator. Disruptions constructed in the pleD open reading frame demonstrated that the gene is not essential and that the pleC phenotype can also be suppressed by a recessive, loss-of-function mutation. These results suggest that PleD is part of a signal transduction pathway controlling stalked-cell differentiation early in the C. crescentus cell cycle.
Metabolism (metabolic pathways involving proteins which contain this domain)
Click the image to view the interactive version of the map in iPath
This information is based on mapping of SMART genomic protein database to KEGG orthologous groups. Percentage points are related to the number of proteins with GGDEF domain which could be assigned to a KEGG orthologous group, and not all proteins containing GGDEF domain. Please note that proteins can be included in multiple pathways, ie. the numbers above will not always add up to 100%.
