The biosynthesis of leucine in Aerobacter aerogenes

Leucine was isolated from Aerobacter aerogenes grown on media containing acetate-1-C¹⁴, glucose-1-C¹⁴, glucose-2-C¹⁴, glucose-3,4-C¹⁴, or glucose-1-C¹⁴ plus unlabeled acetate. The distributions of radioactivity in the individual carbon atoms of leucine indicated that carbon atoms 1 and 2 of leucine were derived from an acetate unit, and that the remaining four carbon atoms were derived from carbon atoms 1 and 2 of glucose. These data indicate that the pathway for the biosynthesis of leucine in A. aerogenes is similar to that in E. coli, T. utilis, Neurospora, and S. cerevisiae (1–5).