Research Article

Evidence for the Novel Metabolic Pathway of Ralstonia eutropha H16 to Metabolize L‐ascorbate Ryan Joyce, Tyler Stack, Michael Carter

Published: 2019-4

Journal: The FASEB Journal

DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.651.12

Abstract

L‐Ascorbate is an antioxidant produced by many eukaryotes and is available for microbial organisms in eukaryotic detritus.Ralstonia eutrophaH16, a soil bacterium that is studied due to its extensive metabolism and bioplastic producing capabilities, can use L‐ascorbate via a metabolic pathway that is different from the known pathways ofEscherichia coliand plants. Transcript levels were measured in L‐ascorbate‐grownRalstonia eutrophaH16 and compared to transcript levels of succinate‐ and fructose‐grownRalstonia eutrophaH16. Genes with a larger than 50‐fold upregulation during L‐ascorbate growth were investigated. A BLAST search suggested that the proteins encoded by the genes of interest inRalstonia eutrophaH16 differ from enzymes of theEscherichia coliL‐ascorbate metabolic pathway. Ralstonia eutrophaH16 does not convert L‐ascorbate into L‐threonate and oxalate, as plants do. Genes of interest,h16_rs15015andh16_rs19815, were deleted. The resultant mutants do not grow with L‐ascorbate. The deletion of specific metabolic genes allows us to better understand their function and importance to the cell's metabolism, furthering our understanding of how different enzymatic metabolic pathways function in nature. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published inThe FASEB Journal.

Faculty Members

  • Ryan Patrick Joyce - Salisbury University North Potomac MD

Themes

  • Comparative biochemistry
  • Metabolic pathways
  • Gene function analysis
  • Environmental microbiology
  • Microbial metabolism

Categories

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