Incorporation of [2,3-13C]succinate into methyl-branched alkanes in a termite

Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance was used to examine the incorporation of 2,3-¹³C]succinate into methylalkanes in the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis. Carbons 2 and 3 of succinate were preferentially incorporated into the branching methyl group(s) and the tertiary carbon(s) of monomethyl- and dimethylalkanes. These data support a pathway in which succinate is metabolized to methylmalonyl-coenzyme A, and is then incorporated in place of malonyl-coenzyme A at specific points during chain elongation.