A process for enzymatic preparation of a highly linear poly(α1,3 glucan) from sucrose is disclosed. The glucosyltransferase enzyme (gtfJ) from Streptococcus salivarius is used to convert sucrose to a highly linear poly(α1,3 glucan) in high titers. Hydrolyzed poly(α1,3 glucan) is used as the primer for the gtfJ enzyme reaction resulting in the formation of highly linear poly(α1,3 glucan).