Effect of the carbon source and cyclic AMP on isocitrate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase in Klebsiella pneumoniae C3

When strain C3 of Klebsiella pneumoniae is grown on a minimal medium with excess glucose, isocitrate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, and succinate dehydrogenase specific activities increase in the last period of the exponential growth phase and in the beginning of the stationary phase. Glucose exhaustion does not alter the development of malate dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase, but specific activities are higher than those obtained with excess glucose. In contrast, glucose exhaustion can be correlated with a decrease of isocitrate dehydrogenase specific activity in the stationary phase. Induction of strain C3 isocitrate dehydrogenase by glucose in complex medium and repression by cAMP in mineral medium were observed. Glucose induction and the NADP/NADPH ratio are suggested as regulatory mechanisms controlling isocitrate dehydrogenase synthesis in the Enterobacteriaceae, but the former appears to be restricted to some Klebsiella strains.     

Properties of Candida lipolytica mutants with the modified glyoxylate cycle and their ability to produce citric and isocitric acid

Summary Enzyme activities of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the anaplerotic pathways, as well as the cell cytology of two C. lipolytica mutants with the modified glyoxylate cycle and their parent strain were studied during the exponential growth phase on glucose or hexadecane.Among the TCA cycle enzymes, the key enzyme citrate synthase had the highest activity in all three strains grown on both substrates. NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase had the minimum activity. All strains had well-developed mitochondria.Pyruvate carboxylation was active in the wild strain and mutant 2 grown on glucose, where this reaction is the basic anaplerotic pathway for oxal-acetate synthesis; mutant 1 had actively functioning enzymes for both anaplerotic pathways — pyruvate carboxylase, isocitrate lyase and malate synthase.During hexadecane assimilation, the number of peroxisomes in all strains increased sharply, accompanied by a simultaneous increase in isocitrate lyase activity.The low activities of both isocitrate lyase and pyruvate carboxylase in mutant 2 give reason to believe that this strain has an additional pathway for oxalacetic acid synthesis during the assimilation of n-alkane.     

Taurine catabolism: III. Evidence for the participation of the glyoxylate cycle

The metabolic fate of acetate, produced during taurine catabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa TAU-5, appear to involve the glyoxylate cycle. Organisms grown on taurine have significantly higher levels of malate synthetase and isocitrate lyase than cells grown on nutrient broth, but were comparable to the levels found in acetate-grown organisms. Itaconate, an isocitrate lyase inhibitor, produced a prolonged lag phase and reduced the growth rate of organisms when it was present in the taurine or acetate growth medium. Ethylmethanesulfonate treatment of TAU-5 yielded mutant strains unable to grow on taurine or acetate as sole carbon sources, due to a lack of either malate synthetase or isocitrate lyase. Spontaneous revertants derived from these mutant strains regained the missing enzyme activity and the ability to grow on taurine or acetate.     

Taurine catabolism. III. Evidence for the participation of the glyoxylate cycle

The metabolic fate of acetate, produced during taurine catabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa TAU-5, appears to involve the glyoxylate cycle. Organisms grown on taurine have significantly higher levels of malate synthetase and isocritrate lyase than cells grown on nutrient broth, but were comparable to the levels found in acetate-grown organisms. Itaconate, an isocitrate lyase inhibitor, produced a prolonged lag phase and reduced the growth rate of organisms when it was present in the taurine or acetate growth medium. Ethylmethanesulfonate treatment of TAU-5 yielded mutant strains unable to grow on taurine or acetate as sole carbon sources, due to a lack of either malate synthetase or isocitrate lyase. Spontaneous revertants derived from these mutant strains regained the missing enzyme activity and the ability to grow on taurine or acetate.     

Control of diauxic growth of Azotobacter vinelandii on acetate and glucose.

Batch cultures of Azotobacter vinelandii were inoculated with cells pregrown on either acetate or glucose. When they were subsequently grown on a mixture of acetate and glucose, typical diauxic growth was observed, with preferential uptake of acetate in the first and glucose in the second phase of growth. Extracts from acetate-pregrown cells exhibited high acetate kinase activity in the first phase of growth. This activity decreased and activities of the two glucose enzymes glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase increased in the second phase. Extracts from glucose-pregrown cells exhibited high initial activities of the two glucose enzymes, which decreased while acetate kinase activity increased in the first phase of growth. Again, in the second phase, activities of the two glucose enzymes increased and acetate kinase activity decreased. In any case, isocitrate dehydrogenase activity varied only slightly and unspecifically. The differences in enzyme activity and the constancy of isocitrate dehydrogenase were confirmed by experiments with either acetate- or glucose-limited chemostats. In chemostats in which both of the substrates were limiting, all of the enzymes displayed significant activities. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was inhibited by acetyl coenzyme A and acetyl phosphate but not by acetate. It is proposed that diauxic growth is based on the control of enzymes involved in acetate or glucose dissimilation by which acetate or its metabolites control the expression and activity of glucose enzymes.     

Enzymes of Carbohydrate Metabolism in Thiobacillus species

A study was made of enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism in representative thiobacilli grown with and without glucose. The data show that Thiobacillus perometabolis possesses an inducible Entner-Doudoroff pathway and is thus similar to T. intermedius and T. ferrooxidans. T. novellus lacks this pathway. Instead, a non-cyclic pentose phosphate pathway along with the Krebs cycle is apparently the major route of glucose dissimilation in this organism. Glucose does not support or stimulate the growth of strains of T. neapolitanus, T. thioparus, and T. thiooxidans examined, nor does its presence in the growth medium greatly influence their enzymatic constitution. These obligately chemolithotrophic thiobacilli do not possess the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Their nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase activity predominates over their nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP)-linked activity; the converse is true for the other thiobacilli. The data suggest that NAD-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase activity in thiobacilli is involved in biosynthetic reactions.     

Control of isocitrate lyase in Nocardia salmonicolor (NCIB9701).

Nocardia salmonicolor, grown on acetate, commercial D,L-lactate or hydrocarbon substrates, has high isocitrate lyase activities compared with those resulting from growth on other carbon sources. This presumably reflects the anaplerotic role of the glyoxylate cycle during growth on the former substrates. Amongst a variety of compounds tested, including glucose, pyruvate and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, only succinate and fumarate prevented an increase in enzyme activity in the presence of acetate. When acetate (equimolar to the initial sugar concentration) was added to cultures growing on glucose, there followed de novo synthesis of isocitrated lyase and isocitrate dehydrogenase, with increases in growth rate and glucose utilization, and both acetate and glucose were metabolized simultaneously. A minute amount of acetate (40 muM) caused isocitrate lyase synthesis (a three-fold increase in activity within 3 min of addition) when added to glucose-limited continuous cultures, but even large amounts added to nitrogen-limited batch cultures were ineffective. Malonate, at a concentration that was not totally growth-inhibitory (1mM) prevented the inhibition of acetate-stimulated isocitrate lyase synthesis by succinate, but fumarate still inhibited in the presence of malonate. Phosphoenolpyruvate is a non-competitive inhibitor of the enzyme (apparent Ki 1-7 mM). The results are consistent with the induction of isocitrate or a closely related metabolite, and catabolite repression by a C-4 acid of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, possibly fumarate.     

Isocitrate dehydrogenase and glyoxylate cycle enzyme activities in Bradyrhizobium japonicum under various growth conditions

Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic partner of soybean, was grown on various carbon substrates and assayed for the presence of the glyoxylate cycle enzymes, isocitrate lyase and malate synthase. The highest levels of isocitrate lyase [165–170 nmol min^–1 (mg protein)^–1] were found in cells grown on acetate or β-hydroxybutyrate, intermediate activity was found after growth on pyruvate or galactose, and very little activity was found in cells grown on arabinose, malate, or glycerol. Malate synthase activity was present in arabinose- and malate-grown cultures and increased by only 50–80% when cells were grown on acetate. B. japonicum bacteroids, harvested at four different nodule ages, showed very little isocitrate lyase activity, implying that a complete glyoxylate cycle is not functional during symbiosis. The apparent K _m of isocitrate lyase for d,l-isocitrate was fourfold higher than that of isocitrate dehydrogenase (61.5 and 15.5 μM, respectively) in desalted crude extracts from acetate-grown B. japonicum. When isocitrate lyase was induced, neither the V _max nor the d,l-isocitrate K _m of isocitrate dehydrogenase changed, implying that isocitrate dehydrogenase is not inhibited by covalent modification to facilitate operation of the glyoxylate cycle in B. japonicum. Received: 10 October 1997 / Accepted: 16 January 1998     

Global metabolic response of Escherichia coli to gnd or zwf gene-knockout, based on 13C-labeling experiments and the measurement of enzyme activities

An integrated study on cell growth, enzyme activities and carbon flux redistribution was made to investigate how the central metabolism of Escherichia coli changes with the knockout of genes in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Mutants deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase were constructed by disrupting the zwf and gnd genes and were grown in minimal media with two different carbon sources, such as glucose or pyruvate. It was shown that the knockout of either gnd or zwf gene did not affect the cell growth rate significantly, but the cellular metabolism was changed. While the specific substrate uptake rate and the specific carbon dioxide evolution rate for either mutant grown on glucose were higher than those obtained for the parent strain, these two rates were markedly decreased in mutants grown on pyruvate. The measurement of enzyme activities implied a significant change in metabolism, when alternative pathways such as the Entner–Doudoroff pathway (EDP) and the malic enzyme pathway were activated in the gnd mutant grown on glucose. As compared with the parent strain, the activities of phosphoglucose isomerase were increased in mutants grown on glucose but decreased in mutants grown on pyruvate. The metabolic flux redistribution obtained based on ¹³C-labeling experiments further indicated that the direction of the flux through the non-oxidative PPP was reversed in response to the gene knockout. Moreover, the knockout of genes caused an increased flux through the tricarboxlic acid cycle in mutants grown on glucose but caused a decrease in the case of using pyruvate. There was also a negative correlation between the fluxes through malic enzyme and isocitrate dehydrogenase in the mutants; and a positive correlation was found between the fluxes through malic enzyme and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

Effect of glucose and cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate on the synthesis of succinate dehydrogenase and isocitrate lyase in Escherichia coli.

Repressed respiration of Escherichia coli cells grown in the presence of 2% glucose was derepressed when the cells were incubated in a buffer containing casamino acids. The glucose-repressed cells were deficient in succinate dehydrogenase [EC 1.3.99.1] and isocitrate lyase [EC 4.1.3.1] activities, which increased during the incubation. The increases in respiratory activity and enzyme activity on incubation were repressed by glucose, but except for isocitrate lyase these repressions could be restored by the addition of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate. Inhibitors of protein synthesis blocked the increase of enzyme activity on incubation without glucose, or with glucose and the cyclic nucleotide.     

Metabolic characteristics and lipid composition of yeastlike cells and mycelium of Mucor circinelloides var. lusitanicus INMI grown at a high glucose content in the medium

It is shown that the fungus Mucor circinelloides var. lusitanicus INMI grown under aerobic conditions in a medium with a high glucose concentration (20%) is capable of both yeastlike and mycelial growth. In the mycelium, the activity of NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase was more than twice as high as in yeastlike cells, whereas the isocitrate lyase activity was lower. A number of significant differences were found in the lipid composition of the cells of two different morphological variants. Yeastlike cells contained more polar lipids and free fatty acids and less principal reserve lipids (triacylglycerides) than mycelial cells; the content of gamma-linolenic acid and the degree of lipid unsaturation were significantly lower in these cells than in the mycelium. In yeastlike cells, glycolipids composed the bulk of polar lipids; the proportion of phospholipids (primarily phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cardiolipin) was lower. The relationship between cellular metabolism and the lipid composition of fungal cells of different morphotypes grown at high concentrations of glucose, one of the main inducers of dimorphic growth, is discussed.     

Regulation of isocitrate dehydrogenase by phosphorylation in Escherichia coli K-12 and a simple method for determining the amount of inactive phosphoenzyme.

In several Escherichia coli K-12 strains grown on a limiting concentration of glucose, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) was inactivated about 90% after cessation of growth upon exhaustion of the glucose. Such inactivation has been previously observed in several E. coli strains but not in E. coli K-12 (unless acetate was added to the bacterial culture when growth ceased). IDH was inactivated 75 to 80% in all E. coli K-12 strains we examined during growth on acetate. The inactivation involved phosphorylation of the enzyme and is considered to be a regulatory mechanism facilitating metabolite flow along the glyoxylate shunt. Phospho-IDH interacted with antibodies to enzymatically active IDH. We have devised a method, based on this immunological cross-reaction, for determining the proportions of active and inactive (phospho-) IDH in cell extracts.     

Fermentation characteristics of Fusariumoxysporum grown on acetate

In this study, the growth characteristics of Fusariumoxysporum were evaluated in minimal medium using acetate or different mixtures of acetate and glucose as carbon source. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acetic acid that F.oxysporum cells could tolerate was 0.8%w/v while glucose was consumed preferentially to acetate. The activity of isocitrate lyase was high when cells were grown on acetate and acetate plus glucose indicating an activation of the glyoxylate cycle. Investigation of the metabolic fingerprinting and footprinting revealed higher levels of intracellular and extracellular TCA cycle intermediates when F.oxysporum cells were grown on mixtures of acetate and glucose compared to growth on only glucose. Our data support the hypothesis that a higher flux through TCA cycle during acetate consumption could significantly increase the pool of NADH, resulting in the activation of succinate-propionate pathway which consumes reducing power (NADH) via conversion of succinate to propionyl-CoA and produce propionate.     

Hyperinduction of enzymes of the phosphorylative pathway of glucose dissimilation inPseudomonas cepacia

Glucose-dehydrogenase-deficient (Gcd^–) strains ofPseudomonas cepacia 249 compensated for loss of operation of the direct oxidative pathway by expanding the phosphorylative pathway. When grown on glucose, they had between two- and fourfold higher than normal levels of glucokinase and NAD-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and a comparable increase in capacity to transport glucose. Similar expansion of the phosphorylative pathway was noted when the wild type was grown on cellobiose or trehalose. Gcd^– strains grew normally on cellobiose and trehalose, but not if also deficient in glucokinase; this indicates that the disaccharides were converted to glucose and metabolized via the phosphorylative pathway. The expansion of the phosphorylative pathway during growth of the wild type on disaccharides or of Gcd^– mutants on glucose was a consequence of hyperinduction of pathway enzymes. Other compounds that promoted such hyperinduction included aromatic conjugates of glucose such as arbutin and salicin, and mannose. Under conditions leading to expansion of the phosphorylative pathway, enzymes related to the direct oxidative pathway, such as gluconate dehydrogenase and the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase active with NAD, were not formed. The results indicate that intracellular glucose and extracellular glucose are metabolized to 6-phosphogluconate via different routes.     

Overproduction of methanol dehydrogenase in glucose grown cells of a restricted RuMP type methylotroph

A restricted facultative methylotrophic RuMP type bacterium that can only utilize methanol and glucose has been found to possess a higher specific activity of methanol dehydrogenase during growth on glucose than during growth on methanol. The increased level of methanol dehydrogenase activity in glucose grown cells was the result of overproduction of the enzyme. In methanol grown cells 8% of the soluble protein consisted of methanol dehydrogenase, whereas in glucose grown cells the proportion amounted to 25%. The type of methanol dehydrogenase produced by this methylotroph could be separated from the crude extract and purified close to homogeneity in a one step procedure using cationic ion exchange chromatography. The enzyme is constitutive, and its level is determined by the growth rate.     

Effects of salts on aerobic metabolism of Debaryomyces hansenii

Debaryomyces hansenii was grown in YPD medium without or with 1.0 M NaCl or KCl. Respiration was higher with salt, but decreased if it was present during incubation. However, carbonylcyanide-3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) markedly increased respiration when salt was present during incubation. Salt also stimulated proton pumping that was partially inhibited by CCCP; this uncoupling of proton pumping may contribute to the increased respiratory rate. The ADP increase produced by CCCP in cells grown in NaCl was similar to that observed in cells incubated with or without salts. The alternative oxidase is not involved. Cells grown with salts showed increased levels of succinate and fumarate, and a decrease in isocitrate and malate. Undetectable levels of citrate and low-glutamate dehydrogenase activity were present only in NaCl cells. Both isocitrate dehydrogenase decreased, and isocitrate lyase and malate synthase increased. Glyoxylate did not increase, indicating an active metabolism of this intermediary. Higher phosphate levels were also found in the cells grown in salt. An activation of the glyoxylate cycle results from the salt stress, as well as an increased respiratory capacity, when cells are grown with salt, and a 'coupling' effect on respiration when incubated in the presence of salt.     

The kinetics of enzyme changes in yeast under conditions that cause the loss of mitochondria

1. Aerobically grown yeast having a high activity of glyoxylate-cycle, citric acid-cycle and electron-transport enzymes was transferred to a medium containing 10% glucose. After a lag phase of 30min. the yeast grew exponentially with a mean generation time of 94min. 2. The enzymes malate dehydrogenase, isocitrate lyase, succinate–cytochrome c oxidoreductase and NADH–cytochrome c oxidoreductase lost 45%, 17%, 27% and 46% of their activity respectively during the lag phase. 3. When growth commenced pyruvate kinase, pyruvate decarboxylase, alcohol dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase (NADP⁺-linked) and NADPH–cytochrome c oxidoreductase increased in activity, whereas aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD⁺- and NADP⁺-linked), α-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, fumarase, malate dehydrogenase, succinate–cytochrome c oxidoreductase, NADH–cytochrome c oxidoreductase, NADH oxidase, NADPH oxidase, cytochrome c oxidase, glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD⁺-linked), glutamate–oxaloacetate transaminase, isocitrate lyase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase decreased. 4. During the early stages of growth the loss of activity of aconitase, α-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, fumarase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase could be accounted for by dilution by cell division. The lower rate of loss of activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD⁺- and NADP⁺-linked), glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD⁺-linked), glutamate–oxaloacetate transaminase, NADPH oxidase and cytochrome c oxidase implies their continued synthesis, whereas the higher rate of loss of activity of malate dehydrogenase, isocitrate lyase, succinate–cytochrome c oxidoreductase, NADH–cytochrome c oxidoreductase and NADH oxidase means that these enzymes were actively removed. 5. The mechanisms of selective removal of enzyme activity and the control of the residual metabolic pathways are discussed.     

The isocitrate dehydrogenase phosphorylation cycle. Identification of the primary rate-limiting step

In Escherichia coli, the branch point between the Krebs cycle and the glyoxylate bypass is regulated by the phosphorylation of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Phosphorylation inactivates IDH, forcing isocitrate through the bypass. This bypass is essential for growth on acetate but does not serve a useful function when alternative carbon sources, such as glucose or pyruvate, are also present. When pyruvate or glucose is added to a culture growing on acetate, the cells responded by dephosphorylating IDH and thus inhibiting the flow of isocitrate through the glyoxylate bypass. In an effort to identify the primary rate-limiting step in the response of IDH phosphorylation to alternative carbon sources, we have examined the response rates of congenic strains of E. coli which express different levels of IDH kinase/phosphatase, the bifunctional protein which catalyzes this phosphorylation cycle. The rate of the pyruvate-induced dephosphorylation of IDH was proportional to the level of IDH kinase/phosphatase, indicating that IDH kinase/phosphatase was primarily rate-limiting for dephosphorylation. However, the identity of the primary rate-limiting step appears to depend on the stimulus, since the rate of dephosphorylation of IDH in response to glucose was independent of the level of IDH kinase/phosphatase.     

Metabolic characteristics and lipid composition of yeastlike cells and mycelium of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mucor circinelloides</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">lusitanicus</Emphasis> INMI grown at a high glucose content in the medium

It is shown that the fungus Mucor circinelloides var. lusitanicus INMI grown under aerobic conditions in a medium with a high glucose concentration (20%) is capable of both yeastlike and mycelial growth. In the mycelium, the activity of NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase was more than twice as high as in yeastlike cells, whereas the isocitrate lyase activity was lower. A number of significant differences were found in the lipid composition of the cells of two different morphological variants. Yeastlike cells contained more polar lipids and free fatty acids and less principal reserve lipids (triacylglycerides) than mycelial cells; the content of γ-linolenic acid and the degree of lipid unsaturation were significantly lower in these cells than in the mycelium. In yeastlike cells, glycolipids composed the bulk of polar lipids; the proportion of phospholipids (primarily phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cardiolipin) was lower. The relationship between cellular metabolism and the lipid composition of fungal cells of different morphotypes grown at high concentrations of glucose, one of the main inducers of dimorphic growth, is discussed.     

The control of the synthesis of isocitrate lyase in a thermophilic bacillus.

From a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus, devoid of active pyruvate carboxylase, a mutant (NG-15) was selected that grew on acetate in the presence of glucose. This mutant differed from its parent organism in possessing high activities of isocitrate lyase when grown on all carbon sources tested except nutrient broth, in possessing unusually low activities of NADP+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and in containing increased amounts of isocitrate. Revertants of mutant NG-15 which regained the ability to synthesize active pyruvate carboxylase also synthesized isocitrate lyase and isocitrate dehydrogenase to the same extent as the wild-type strain. These results suggest that the regulatory mechanism for the synthesis of isocitrate lyase in the thermophile may be different from that in mesophilic bacilli.