A novel enzyme acting on starch and malto-oligosaccharides was identified and characterised. The non-hydrolytic enzyme, designated maltosyltransferase (MTase), of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima MSB8 disproportionates malto-oligosaccharides via glycosyl transfer reactions. The enzyme has a unique transfer specificity strictly confined to the transfer of maltosyl units. Incubation of MTase with starch or its constituents, i.e. amylose and amylopectin, led to the formation of a set of multiples of maltose (i.e. maltose, maltotetraose, maltohexaose etc.). Malto-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization (DP) X were disproportionated to products with a DP of X Ϯ2n (with Xу 3 and n ϭ 0,1, 2, ...). Maximum activity in a 10-min assay was recorded at pH 6.5 and 85Ϫ90°C. The enzyme displayed extraordinary resistance to thermal inactivation. For example, at 90, 85, and 70°C (pH 6.5, 0.34 mg ml Ϫ1 protein), MTase half-lives of about 2.5 h, 17 h, and 21 days, respectively, were recorded.The gene for MTase, designated mmtA, was isolated from a gene library of T. maritima strain MSB8. Analysis of the MTase primary structure as deduced from the nucleotide sequence of mmtA revealed that the enzyme is not closely related to known protein sequences. However, low-level local similarity between MTase and the A-amylase enzyme family (glycosyl hydrolase family 13) was detected, including conserved acidic residues essential for catalysis. Therefore, MTase should be assigned to this family. Based on detailed sequence analyses and comparison with amylolytic enzymes of known crystal structure we propose that MTase contains a (β/A) 8 -fold as the core supersecondary structure which is typical for the Aamylase family. On the other hand, MTase is unique in that it lacks several residues highly conserved throughout this family. Also, MTase possesses an extraordinarily large domain B (a domain typical for the A-amylase family, inserted between β-strand 3 and A-helix 3 of the (β/A) 8 -barrel fold).Keywords : glycosyl transfer; mmtA gene; nucleotide sequence; hyperthermophilic bacterium; thermostability.Enzymes from organisms inhabiting extremely hot environments represent fascinating objects for basic as well as applied research. On the one hand, the industry is interested in thermostable biocatalysts for biotechnological processes demanding elevated temperatures. On the other hand, considerable efforts have been made over the last years to understand how the proteins of extreme thermophiles maintain their structure and function at high temperatures (for a review, see [1]). We have focused our interests on the enzymes involved in carbohydrate breakdown and utilisation of the hyperthermophilic bacterium, Thermotoga maritima. This organism, which represents one of the deepest branches in the phylogenetic tree of the bacterial domain [2], is characterised by a growth range between 55°C and 90°C with an optimum at 80°C [3], making it one of the most thermophilic bacteria known to date. T. maritima MSB8 (DSM 3109), the typ...