Catalyzes the initial step of the lipid cycle reactions in the biosynthesis of the cell wall peptidoglycan: transfers peptidoglycan precursor phospho-MurNAc-pentapeptide from UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide onto the lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate, yielding undecaprenyl-pyrophosphoryl-MurNAc-pentapeptide, known as lipid I