An unusual pattern of carbohydrate utilization in Corallococcus (Myxococcus) coralloides (Myxobacterales)

The myxobacterium, Corallococcus (Myxococcus) coralloides strain Cc c127, could not utilize mono- and disaccharides, but maltotriose and the polysaccharides starch, amylose, amylopectin, and pullulan stimulated growth. Radioactive CO₂ was set free from ¹⁴C-labeled starch. When starch was degraded, small amounts of maltose and glucose accumulated in the culture supernatant. Maltotriose, however, appeared only temporarily. Outside the cells, the trisaccharide could not be split into glucose and maltose. Pullulan was hydrolyzed exclusively into a trisaccharide which during growth was immediately consumed. Hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and phosphoglucomutase could readily be demonstrated in cell extracts, but fructose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase was present with low activity only. The data suggest that intracellular glucose is metabolized mainly via the pentose phosphate pathway.Prof. Dr. Gerhard Drews gratefully dedicated to his 60th birthday