Glucose metabolism and NADH recycling by Treponema hyodysenteriae, the agent of swine dysentery

Glucose metabolism and the mechanisms of NADH oxidation by Treponema hyodysenteriae were studied. Under an N2 atmosphere, washed cell suspensions of the spirochete consumed glucose and produced acetate, butyrate, H2, and CO2. Approximately twice as much H2 as CO2 was produced. Determinations of radioactivity in products of [14C]glucose and [14C]pyruvate metabolism and analyses of enzyme activities in cell lysates revealed that glucose was catabolized to pyruvate via the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. The results of pyruvate exchange reactions with NaH14CO3 and Na14COOH demonstrated that pyruvate was converted to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), H2, and CO2 by a clostridium-type phosphoroclastic mechanism. NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and hydrogenase activities were present in cell lysates and produced H2 from NADH oxidation. Phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase catalyzed the formation of acetate from acetyl-CoA. Butyrate was formed from acetyl-CoA via a pathway that involved 3-hydroxybutyryl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase, butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, and butyryl-CoA transferase. T. hyodysenteriae cell suspensions generated less H2 and butyrate under 10% O2-90% N2 than under 100% N2. Cell lysates contained NADH oxidase, NADH peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase activities. These findings indicated there are three major mechanisms that T. hyodysenteriae cells use to recycle NADH generated from the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway--enzymes in the pathway from acetyl-CoA to butyrate, NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and NADH oxidase. Versatility in methods of NADH oxidation and an ability to metabolize oxygen could benefit T. hyodysenteriae cells in the colonization of tissues of the swine large bowel.     

Fumarate reduction and product formation by the Reiter strain of Treponema phagedenis.

The catabolic pathways for butyrate, acetate, succinate, and ethanol formation by the Reiter strain of Treponema phagedenis were investigated. Enzyme activities were demonstrated for glucose catabolism to pyruvate by the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. Butyrate formation from acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) does not generate ATP by substrate level phosphorylation and involves NAD+-dependent 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase and NAD(P)+-independent butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase activities. Butyrate is formed from butyryl-CoA in a CoA transphorase reaction. Phosphate acetyltransferase and acetate kinase activities convert acetyl-CoA to acetate. An NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase participates in ethanol formation; however, the manner in which acetyl-CoA is reduced to acetaldehyde is unclear. A membrane-associated fumarate reductase was found which utilized reduced ferredoxin or flavin nucleotides as physiological electron donors. Additional electron carriers may also be involved in electron transfer for fumarate reduction. Strains of Treponema denticola, T. vincentii, and T. minutum utilized fumarate without succinate formation, whereas strains of T. phagedenis and T. refringens formed succinate from exogenously supplied fumarate.     

Engineering a homobutanol fermentation pathway in Escherichia coli EG03

A homobutanol fermentation pathway was engineered in a derivative of Escherichia coli B (glucose [glycolysis] => 2 pyruvate + 2 NADH; pyruvate [pyruvate dehydrogenase] => acetyl-CoA + NADH; 2 acetyl-CoA [butanol pathway enzymes] + 4 NADH => butanol; summary stoichiometry: glucose => butanol). Initially, the native fermentation pathways were eliminated from E. coli B by deleting the genes encoding for lactate dehydrogenase (ldhA), acetate kinase (ackA), fumarate reductase (frdABCD), pyruvate formate lyase (pflB), and alcohol dehydrogenase (adhE), and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (aceEF-lpd) was anaerobically expressed through promoter replacement. The resulting strain, E. coli EG03 (ΔfrdABCD ΔldhA ΔackA ΔpflB Δ adhE ΔpdhR ::pflBp6-aceEF-lpd ΔmgsA), could generate 4 NADH for every glucose oxidized to two acetyl-CoA through glycolysis and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. However, EG03 lost its ability for anaerobic growth due to the lack of NADH oxidation pathways. When the butanol pathway genes that encode for acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase (thiL), 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (hbd), crotonase (crt), butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (bcd, etfA, etfB), and butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (adheII) were cloned from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, and expressed in E. coli EG03, a balanced NADH oxidation pathway was established for homobutanol fermentation (glucose => 4 NADH + 2 acetyl-CoA => butanol). This strain was able to convert glucose to butanol (1,254 mg l(-1)) under anaerobic condition.     

Biochemical route and control of butyrate synthesis in Butyribacterium methylotrophicum

 Butyribacterium methylotrophicum produced more butyrate when grown on lactate than when grown on glucose, and only acetate was detected during growth on pyruvate. Higher levels of NADH were found in butyrate-producing than in acetate-producing cells. The addition of neutral red, an electron-flow modulator, to cells growing on pyruvate altered the carbon and electron flow from acetate plus H₂ synthesis to butyrate synthesis. Enzymatic analysis suggested that pyruvate was produced from glucose via an Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. Pyruvate was further metabolized to butyryl-CoA via, β-hydroxybutyryl-CoA and butyryl-CoA dehydrogenases. Lactate dehydrogenase, unlike butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, was inducible and detected only in lactate-grown cells. Both of these dehydrogenases utilized 2,6-dichloroindophenol and other artificial electron acceptors but not NAD(P). Ferredoxin–NAD oxidoreductase levels were highest in lactate and lowest in pyruvate-grown cells. Cells contained both a ferredoxin–neutral-red reductase activity and a neutral-red–NAD reductase activity that coupled electron flow to butyrate synthesis. These results showed that butyrate synthesis by B. methylotrophicum was regulated by the carbon source and was dependent on the cellular NADH/NAD ratios, and the levels and direction of ferredoxin- and NAD-linked oxidoreductases. Received: 3 August 1995/Received revision: 31 October 1995/Accepted: 10 November 1995     

Fermentation in the unicellular cyanobacterium Microcystis PCC7806

The cyanobacterium Microcystis PCC7806 fermented endogenously stored glycogen to ethanol, acetate, CO₂, and H₂ when incubated anaerobically in the dark. The switch from photoautotrophic to fermentative metabolism did not require de novo protein synthesis, and fermentation started immediately after cells had been transferred to dark anoxic conditions. From the molar ratios of the products and from enzyme activities in cell-free extracts, it was concluded that glucose derived from glycogen was degraded via the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. In addition, CoA-dependent pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, alcohol dehydrogenase, acetate kinase, and hydrogenase were present. The specific activities of these enzymes were sufficiently high to account for the rates of product formation by cell suspensions.     

Energy Conservation Model Based on Genomic and Experimental Analyses of a Carbon Monoxide-Utilizing,Butyrate-Forming Acetogen,Eubacterium limosum KIST612

Eubacterium limosum KIST612 is one of the few acetogens that can produce butyrate from carbon monoxide. We have used a genome-guided analysis to delineate the path of butyrate formation, the enzymes involved, and the potential coupling to ATP synthesis. Oxidation of CO is catalyzed by the acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthase/CO dehydrogenase and coupled to the reduction of ferredoxin. Oxidation of reduced ferredoxin is catalyzed by the Rnf complex and Na⁺ dependent. Consistent with the finding of a Na⁺-dependent Rnf complex is the presence of a conserved Na⁺-binding motif in the c subunit of the ATP synthase. Butyrate formation is from acetyl-CoA via acetoacetyl-CoA, hydroxybutyryl-CoA, crotonyl-CoA, and butyryl-CoA and is consistent with the finding of a gene cluster that encodes the enzymes for this pathway. The activity of the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase was demonstrated. Reduction of crotonyl-CoA to butyryl-CoA with NADH as the reductant was coupled to reduction of ferredoxin. We postulate that the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase uses flavin-based electron bifurcation to reduce ferredoxin, which is consistent with the finding of etfA and etfB genes next to it. The overall ATP yield was calculated and is significantly higher than the one obtained with H₂ + CO₂. The energetic benefit may be one reason that butyrate is formed only from CO but not from H₂ + CO₂.     

Changes of fermentation pathways of fecal microbial communities associated with a drug treatment that increases dietary starch in the human colon.

Acarbose inhibits starch digestion in the human small intestine. This increases the amount of starch available for microbial fermentation to acetate, propionate, and butyrate in the colon. Relatively large amounts of butyrate are produced from starch by colonic microbes. Colonic epithelial cells use butyrate as an energy source, and butyrate causes the differentiation of colon cancer cells. In this study we investigated whether colonic fermentation pathways changed during treatment with acarbose. We examined fermentations by fecal suspensions obtained from subjects who participated in an acarbose-placebo crossover trial. After incubation with [1-13C]glucose and 12CO2 or with unlabeled glucose and 13CO2, the distribution of 13C in product C atoms was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Regardless of the treatment, acetate, propionate, and butyrate were produced from pyruvate formed by the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. Considerable amounts of acetate were also formed by the reduction of CO2. Butyrate formation from glucose increased and propionate formation decreased with acarbose treatment. Concomitantly, the amounts of CO2 reduced to acetate were 30% of the total acetate in untreated subjects and 17% of the total acetate in the treated subjects. The acetate, propionate, and butyrate concentrations were 57, 20, and 23% of the total final concentrations, respectively, for the untreated subjects and 57, 13, and 30% of the total final concentrations, respectively, for the treated subjects.     

Operation of the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl coenzyme A pathway in both acetate oxidation and acetate formation by the syntrophically acetate-oxidizing bacterium Thermacetogenium phaeum

Thermacetogenium phaeum is a homoacetogenic bacterium that can grow on various substrates, such as pyruvate, methanol, or H2/CO2. It can also grow on acetate if cocultured with the hydrogen-consuming methanogenic partner Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus. Enzyme activities of the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) pathway (CO dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase, formyl tetrahydrofolate synthase, methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase) were detected in cell extracts of pure cultures and of syntrophic cocultures. Mixed cell suspensions of T. phaeum and M. thermautotrophicus oxidized acetate rapidly and produced acetate after addition of H2/CO2 after a short time lag. CO dehydrogenase activity staining after native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis exhibited three oxygen-labile bands which were identical in pure culture and coculture. Protein profiles of T. phaeum cells after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the strain exhibited basically the same protein patterns in both pure and syntrophic culture. These results indicate that T. phaeum operates the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA pathway reversibly both in acetate oxidation and in reductive acetogenesis by using the same biochemical apparatus, although it has to couple this pathway to ATP synthesis in different ways.     

d-Xylose catabolism in Bacteroides xylanolyticus X5-1

The xylose metabolism of Bacteroides xylanolyticus X5-1 was studied by determining specific enzyme activities in cell free extracts, by following ¹³C-label distribution patterns in growing cultures and by mass balance calculations. Enzyme activities of the pentose phosphate pathway and the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway were sufficiently high to account for in vivo xylose fermentation to pyruvate via a combination of these two pathways. Pyruvate was mainly oxidized to acetyl-CoA, CO₂ and a reduced cofactor (ferredoxin). Part of the pyruvate was converted to acetyl-CoA and formate by means of a pyruvate-formate lyase. Acetyl-CoA was either converted to acetate by a combined action of phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase or reduced to ethanol by an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and an ethanol dehydrogenase. The latter two enzymes displayed both a NADH- and a NADPH-linked activity. Cofactor regeneration proceeded via a reduction of intermediates of the metabolism (i.e. acetyl-CoA and acetaldehyde) and via proton reduction. According to the deduced pathway about 2.5 mol ATP are generated per mol of xylose degraded.Abbreviations PPP Pentose phosphate pathway - PKP phosphoketolase pathway     

Glucose and Pyruvate Metabolism of Spirochaeta litoralis, an Anaerobic Marine Spirochete

The pathways of glucose and pyruvate metabolism in Spirochaeta litoralis, a free-living, strictly anaerobic marine spirochete, were studied. Addition of 0.2 to 0.4 M NaCl (final concentration) to suspending buffers prevented cell lysis and was necessary for gas evolution from various substrates by cell suspensions. The organism fermented glucose mainly to ethanol, acetate, CO(2), and H(2). Determination of radioactivity in products formed from (14)C-labeled glucose and assays of enzymatic activities in cell extracts indicated that S. litoralis catabolized glucose via the Embden-Meyerhof pathway. A clostridial-type clastic reaction was utilized by the spirochete to degrade pyruvate to acetyl-coenzyme A, CO(2), and H(2). Formation of acetate from acetyl-coenzyme A was catalyzed by phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent acetaldehyde and alcohol dehydrogenases converted acetyl-coenzyme A to ethanol. A reversible hydrogenase activity was detected in cell extracts. S. litoralis cell extracts contained a rubredoxin similar in spectral properties to other bacterial rubredoxins.     

Initial steps in the fermentation of 3-hydroxybenzoate by Sporotomaculum hydroxybenzoicum

The anaerobic bacterium Sporotomaculum hydroxybenzoicum ferments 3-hydroxybenzoate to acetate, butyrate, and CO2. 3-Hydroxybenzoate was activated to 3-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA in a CoA-transferase reaction with acetyl-CoA or butyryl-CoA as CoA donors. 3-Hydroxybenzoyl-CoA was reductively dehydroxylated, forming benzoyl-CoA. This reaction was measured in cell-free extracts with cob(I)alamin as low-potential electron donor. No evidence was obtained that cob(I)alamin is the physiological electron donor; however, inhibitor studies indicated involvement of a strong nucleophile in the reaction. Benzoate was degraded by dense cell suspensions without a lag phase until an in situ deltaG' value <-25 kJ mol(-1) was reached. Benzoyl-CoA reductase was not detected. Enzyme activities for all reaction steps from glutaryl-CoA to butyryl-CoA, and ATP formation via acetate kinase were detected in cell-free extracts. Glutaconyl-CoA decarboxylase is likely to act as a primary sodium ion pump.     

Coupled ferredoxin and crotonyl coenzyme A (CoA) reduction with NADH catalyzed by the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase/Etf complex from Clostridium kluyveri

Cell extracts of butyrate-forming clostridia have been shown to catalyze acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA)- and ferredoxin-dependent formation of H₂ from NADH. It has been proposed that these bacteria contain an NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductase which is allosterically regulated by acetyl-CoA. We report here that ferredoxin reduction with NADH in cell extracts from Clostridium kluyveri is catalyzed by the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase/Etf complex and that the acetyl-CoA dependence previously observed is due to the fact that the cell extracts catalyze the reduction of acetyl-CoA with NADH via crotonyl-CoA to butyryl-CoA. The cytoplasmic butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase complex was purified and is shown to couple the endergonic reduction of ferredoxin (E₀′ = −410 mV) with NADH (E₀′ = −320 mV) to the exergonic reduction of crotonyl-CoA to butyryl-CoA (E₀′ = −10 mV) with NADH. The stoichiometry of the fully coupled reaction is extrapolated to be as follows: 2 NADH + 1 oxidized ferredoxin + 1 crotonyl-CoA = 2 NAD⁺ + 1 ferredoxin reduced by two electrons + 1 butyryl-CoA. The implications of this finding for the energy metabolism of butyrate-forming anaerobes are discussed in the accompanying paper.     

Metabolic flux analysis of the mixotrophic metabolisms in the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum

The photosynthetic green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum assimilates CO(2) and organic carbon sources (acetate or pyruvate) during mixotrophic growth conditions through a unique carbon and energy metabolism. Using a (13)C-labeling approach, this study examined biosynthetic pathways and flux distributions in the central metabolism of C. tepidum. The isotopomer patterns of proteinogenic amino acids revealed an alternate pathway for isoleucine synthesis (via citramalate synthase, CimA, CT0612). A (13)C-assisted flux analysis indicated that carbons in biomass were mostly derived from CO(2) fixation via three key routes: the reductive tricarboxylic acid (RTCA) cycle, the pyruvate synthesis pathway via pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and the CO(2)-anaplerotic pathway via phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. During mixotrophic growth with acetate or pyruvate as carbon sources, acetyl-CoA was mainly produced from acetate (via acetyl-CoA synthetase) or citrate (via ATP citrate lyase). Pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase converted acetyl-CoA and CO(2) to pyruvate, and this growth-rate control reaction is driven by reduced ferredoxin generated during phototrophic growth. Most reactions in the RTCA cycle were reversible. The relative fluxes through the RTCA cycle were 80～100 units for mixotrophic cultures grown on acetate and 200～230 units for cultures grown on pyruvate. Under the same light conditions, the flux results suggested a trade-off between energy-demanding CO(2) fixation and biomass growth rate; C. tepidum fixed more CO(2) and had a higher biomass yield (Y(X/S), mole carbon in biomass/mole substrate) in pyruvate culture (Y(X/S) = 9.2) than in acetate culture (Y(X/S) = 6.4), but the biomass growth rate was slower in pyruvate culture than in acetate culture.     

Pathway of anaerobic poly-β-hydroxybutyrate degradation byIlyobacter delafieldii

Ilyobacter delafieldii produced an extracellular poly--hydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase when grown on PHB; activity was not detected in cultures grown on 3-hydroxybutyrate, crotonate, pyruvate or lactate. PHB depolymerase activity was largely associated with the PHB granules (supplied as growth substrate), and only 16% was detected free in the culture supernatant. Monomeric 3-hydroxybutyrate was detectable as a product of depolymerase activity. The monomer was fermented to acetate, butyrate and H₂. After activation by coenzyme A transfer from acetyl-CoA or butyryl-CoA, the resultant 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA was oxidized to acetoacetyl-CoA (producing NADH), followed by thiolytic cleavage to yield acetyl-CoA which was further metabolized to acetyl-phosphate, then to acetate with concomitant ATP production. The reducing equivalents (NADH) could be disposed of by the evolution of H₂, or by a reductive pathway in which 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA was dehydrated to crotonyl-CoA and reduced to butyryl-CoA. In cocultures ofI. delafieldii withDesulfovibrio vulgaris on PHB, the H₂ partial pressure was much lower than in the pure cultures, and sulfide was produced. Thus interspecies hydrogen transfer caused a shift to increased acetate and H₂ production at the expense of butyrate.     

Formation of Hydrogen and Formate by Ruminococcus albus

Radioisotopic growth studies with specifically labeled (14)C-glucose confirmed that Ruminococcus albus, strain 7, ferments glucose mainly by the Embden-Myerhof-Parnas pathway to acetate, ethanol, formate, CO(2), H(2), and an unidentified product. Cell suspensions and extracts converted pyruvate to acetate, H(2), CO(2), and a small amount of ethanol. Formate was not produced from pyruvate and was not degraded to H(2) and CO(2), indicating that formate was not an intermediate in the production of H(2) and CO(2) from pyruvate. Cell extract and (14)C-glucose growth studies showed that the H(2)-producing pyruvate lyase reaction is the major route of H(2) and CO(2) production. An active pyruvate-(14)CO(2) exchange reaction was demonstrable with cell extracts. The (14)C-glucose growth studies indicated that formate, as well as CO(2), arises from the 3 and 4 carbon positions of glucose. A formate-producing pyruvate lyase system was not demonstrable either by pyruvate-(14)C-formate exchange or by net formate formation from pyruvate. Growth studies with unlabeled glucose and labeled (14)CO(2) or (14)C-formate suggest that formate arises from the 3 and 4 carbon positions of glucose by an irreversible reduction of CO(2). The results of the studies on the time course of formate production showed that formate production is a late function of growth, and the rate of production, as well as the total amount produced, increases as the glucose concentration available to the organism increases.     

Glucose catabolism by Spirochaeta thermophila RI 19.B1.

Spirochaeta thermophila RI 19.B1 (DSM 6192) fermented glucose to lactate, acetate, CO2, and H2 with concomitant formation of cell material. The cell dry mass yield was 20.0 g/mol of glucose. From the fermentation balance data and knowledge of the fermentation pathway, a YATP of 9.22 g of dry mass per mol of ATP was calculated for pH-uncontrolled batch-culture growth on glucose in a mineral medium. Measurement of enzyme activities in glucose-grown cells revealed that glucose was taken up by a permease and then subjected to ATP-dependent phosphorylation by a hexokinase. Glucose-6-phosphate was further metabolized to pyruvate through the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. The phosphoryl donor for phosphofructokinase activity was PPi rather than ATP. This was also found for the type strain of S. thermophila, Z-1203 (DSM 6578). PPi was probably formed by pyrophosphoroclastic cleavage of ATP, with recovery of the resultant AMP by the activity of adenylate kinase. All other measured kinase activities utilized ATP as the phosphoryl donor. Pyruvate was further metabolized to acetyl coenzyme A with concomitant production of H2 and CO2 by pyruvate synthase. Lactate was also produced from pyruvate by a fructose-1,6-diphosphate-insensitive lactate dehydrogenase. Evidence was obtained for the transfer of reducing equivalents from the glycolytic pathway to hydrogenase to produce H2. No formate dehydrogenase or significant ethanol-producing enzyme activities were detected.     

Involvement of NADH:Acceptor Oxidoreductase and Butyryl Coenzyme A Dehydrogenase in Reversed Electron Transport during Syntrophic Butyrate Oxidation by Syntrophomonas wolfei

Methanogenic oxidation of butyrate to acetate requires a tight cooperation between the syntrophically fermenting Syntrophomonas wolfei and the methanogen Methanospirillum hungatei, and a reversed electron transport system in S. wolfei was postulated to shift electrons from butyryl coenzyme A (butyryl-CoA) oxidation to the redox potential of NADH for H₂ generation. The metabolic activity of butyrate-oxidizing S. wolfei cells was measured via production of formazan and acetate from butyrate, with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride as electron acceptor. This activity was inhibited by trifluoperazine (TPZ), an antitubercular agent known to inhibit NADH:menaquinone oxidoreductase. In cell extracts of S. wolfei, the oxidation of NADH could be measured with quinones, viologens, and tetrazolium dyes as electron acceptors, and also this activity was inhibited by TPZ. The TPZ-sensitive NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase activity appeared to be membrane associated but could be dissociated from the membrane as a soluble protein and was semipurified by anion-exchange chromatography. Recovered proteins were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting, which indicated the presence of an NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase as part of a three-component [FeFe] hydrogenase complex and a selenocysteine-containing formate dehydrogenase. Furthermore, purification of butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (Bcd) activity and peptide mass fingerprinting revealed two Bcd proteins different from the Bcd subunit of the Bcd/electron-transfer flavoprotein complex (Bcd/EtfAB) predicted from the genome sequence of S. wolfei. The results suggest that syntrophic oxidation of butyrate in S. wolfei involves a membrane-associated TPZ-sensitive NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase as part of a hydrogenase complex similar to the recently discovered “bifurcating” hydrogenase in Thermotoga maritima and butyryl-CoA dehydrogenases that are different from Bcd of the Bcd/EtfAB complex.Butyrate is fermented to methane and CO₂ by syntrophic communities in which a methanogenic partner organism maintains a low hydrogen partial pressure to allow the oxidation of butyrate to acetate (19, 20, 29). Only under such conditions can butyrate-oxidizing bacteria such as Syntrophomonas wolfei gain energy from the latter reaction in a range of approximately −20 kJ per mol of butyrate, which is just sufficient to support microbial growth (29). It was postulated that S. wolfei has to invest some of the ATP that is formed in the acetate kinase reaction during the β-oxidation of butyrate into an ATP-driven reversed electron transport in order to shift electrons from butyryl coenzyme A (butyryl-CoA) oxidation to the redox potential of NADH (34).Experimental evidence for the involvement of a proton gradient and of ATPase activity in this process was obtained with intact cell suspensions (36), and it was hypothesized that menaquinone-7 could play an essential role in this reaction (36). This would imply that membrane-bound enzymes similar to complex I of the aerobic respiratory chain, i.e., NADH dehydrogenase (NDH), operate in reverse to reduce NAD⁺ with butyrate electrons.Another option for a reversed electron transport during butyrate oxidation and hydrogen formation in S. wolfei could be a reversal of the so-called Buckel-Thauer reaction. In this reaction that was described for ethanol-acetate fermentation by Clostridium kluyveri, electrons from NADH are disproportionated to reduce both crotonyl-CoA and ferredoxin simultaneously. The reaction is catalyzed by the cytoplasmic butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase/electron-transfer flavoprotein (Bcd/EtfAB) complex (13, 18). Very recently, another “bifurcating” electron pathway has been described for an NADH- and ferredoxin-coaccepting di-iron hydrogenase complex in Thermotoga maritima (30). Here, electrons from NADH and from ferredoxin are combined to produce hydrogen, and the genome sequence of S. wolfei has been shown to contain candidate genes for such a three-component hydrogenase complex (30). Nonetheless, the energetic situation of syntrophic butyrate oxidation is basically different from that of ethanol or glucose degradation: electrons arise at comparably positive redox potentials, i.e., at −125 mV/−10 mV (12, 28) and −250 mV, and there is no oxidation step involved that could be coupled directly with ferredoxin reduction.In the present study, we report that butyrate oxidation by S. wolfei cell suspensions can be inhibited by trifluoperazine (TPZ), an antitubercular agent that has been shown to inhibit type II NADH:menaquinone oxidoreductase NDH-2 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (40), and that a TPZ-sensitive NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase activity can be measured in cell extracts of S. wolfei cells. This enzyme system and a butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase were enriched by anion-exchange chromatography, and the obtained proteins were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting.     

Metabolic pathways for cytotoxic end product formation from glutamate- and aspartate-containing peptides by Porphyromonas gingivalis

Metabolic pathways involved in the formation of cytotoxic end products by Porphyromonas gingivalis were studied. The washed cells of P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 utilized peptides but not single amino acids. Since glutamate and aspartate moieties in the peptides were consumed most intensively, a dipeptide of glutamate or aspartate was then tested as a metabolic substrate of P. gingivalis. P. gingivalis cells metabolized glutamylglutamate to butyrate, propionate, acetate, and ammonia, and they metabolized aspartylaspartate to butyrate, succinate, acetate, and ammonia. Based on the detection of metabolic enzymes in the cell extracts and stoichiometric calculations (carbon recovery and oxidation/reduction ratio) during dipeptide degradation, the following metabolic pathways were proposed. Incorporated glutamylglutamate and aspartylaspartate are hydrolyzed to glutamate and aspartate, respectively, by dipeptidase. Glutamate is deaminated and oxidized to succinyl-coenzyme A (CoA) by glutamate dehydrogenase and 2-oxoglutarate oxidoreductase. Aspartate is deaminated into fumarate by aspartate ammonia-lyase and then reduced to succinyl-CoA by fumarate reductase and acyl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase or oxidized to acetyl-CoA by a sequential reaction of fumarase, malate dehydrogenase, oxaloacetate decarboxylase, and pyruvate oxidoreductase. The succinyl-CoA is reduced to butyryl-CoA by a series of enzymes, including succinate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 4-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, and butyryl-CoA oxidoreductase. A part of succinyl-CoA could be converted to propionyl-CoA through the reactions initiated by methylmalonyl-CoA mutase. The butyryl- and propionyl-CoAs thus formed could then be converted into acetyl-CoA by acyl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase with the formation of corresponding cytotoxic end products, butyrate and propionate. The formed acetyl-CoA could then be metabolized further to acetate.     

Effects of dichloroacetate on the metabolism of glucose, pyruvate, acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate in rat diaphragm and heart muscle in vitro and on extraction of glucose, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids by dog heart in vivo

1. The extractions of glucose, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids by dog heart in vivo were calculated from measurements of their arterial and coronary sinus blood concentration. Elevation of plasma free fatty acid concentrations by infusion of intralipid and heparin resulted in increased extraction of free fatty acids and diminished extractions of glucose, lactate and pyruvate by the heart. It is suggested that metabolism of free fatty acids by the heart in vivo, as in vitro, may impair utilization of these substrates. These effects of elevated plasma free fatty acid concentrations on extractions by the heart in vivo were reversed by injection of dichloroacetate, which also improved extraction of lactate and pyruvate by the heart in vivo in alloxan diabetes. 2. Sodium dichloroacetate increased glucose oxidation and pyruvate oxidation in hearts from fed normal or alloxan-diabetic rats perfused with glucose and insulin. Dichloroacetate inhibited oxidation of acetate and 3-hydroxybutyrate and partially reversed inhibitory effects of these substrates on the oxidation of glucose. In rat diaphragm muscle dichloroacetate inhibited oxidation of acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate and increased glucose oxidation and pyruvate oxidation in diaphragms from alloxan-diabetic rats. Dichloroacetate increased the rate of glycolysis in hearts perfused with glucose, insulin and acetate and evidence is given that this results from a lowering of the citrate concentration within the cell, with a consequent activation of phosphofructokinase. 3. In hearts from normal rats perfused with glucose and insulin, dichloroacetate increased cell concentrations of acetyl-CoA, acetylcarnitine and glutamate and lowered those of aspartate and malate. In perfusions with glucose, insulin and acetate, dichloroacetate lowered the cell citrate concentration without lowering the acetyl-CoA or acetylcarnitine concentrations. Measurements of specific radioactivities of acetyl-CoA, acetylcarnitine and citrate in perfusions with [1-(14)C]acetate indicated that dichloroacetate lowered the specific radio-activity of these substrates in the perfused heart. Evidence is given that dichloroacetate may not be metabolized by the heart to dichloroacetyl-CoA or dichloroacetylcarnitine or citrate or CO(2). 4. We suggest that dichloroacetate may activate pyruvate dehydrogenase, thus increasing the oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and acetylcarnitine and the conversion of acetyl-CoA into glutamate, with consumption of aspartate and malate. Possible mechanisms for the changes in cell citrate concentration and for inhibitory effects of dichloroacetate on the oxidation of acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate are discussed.     

An energy-conserving pyruvate-to-acetate pathway in Entamoeba histolytica. Pyruvate synthase and a new acetate thiokinase.

Under anaerobic conditions, cells of Entamoeba histolytica grown with bacteria produce H2 and acetate while cells grown axenically produce neither. Aerobically, acetate is produced and O2 is consumed by amebae from either type of cells. Centrifuged extracts, 2.4 x 106 x g x min, from both types of cells contain pyruvate synthase (EC 1.2.7.1) and an acetate thiokinase which, together, form a system capable of converting pyruvate to acetate. Pyruvate synthase catalyzes the reaction: pyruvate + CoA leads to CO2 + acetyl-CoA + 2E. Electron acceptors which function with this enzyme are FAD, FMN, riboflavin, ferredoxin, and methyl viologen, but not NAD or NADP. The amebal acetate thiokinase catalyzes the reaction acetyl-CoA + ADP + Pi leads to acetate + ATP + CoA. For this apparently new enzyme we suggest the trivial name acetyl-CoA-synthetase (ADP-forming). Extracts from axenic amebae do not contain hydrogenase, but extracts from cells grown with bacteria do. It is postulated that in bacteria-grown amebae electrons generated at the pyruvate synthase step are utilized anaerobically to produce H2 via the hydrogenase and that the acetyl-CoA is converted to acetate in an energy-conserving step catalyzed by amebal acetyl-CoA synthetase. Aerobically, cells grown under either regimen may utilize the energy-conserving pyruvate-to-acetate pathway since O2 then serves as the ultimate electron acceptor.