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Acetate and carbon dioxide assimilation by Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Marburg), growing on hydrogen and sulfate as sole energy source

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Abstract

Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Marburg) was grown on hydrogen plus sulfate as sole energy source and acetate plus CO2 as the sole carbon sources. The incorporation of U-14C acetate into alanine, aspartate, glutamate, and ribose was studied. The labelling data show that alanine is synthesized from one acetate (C-2 + C-3) and one CO2 (C-1), aspartate from one acetate (C-2 + C-3) and two CO2 (C-1 + C-4), glutamate from two acetate (C-1−C-4) and one CO2 (C-5), and ribose from 1.8 acetate and 1.4 CO2. These findings indicate that in Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Marburg) pyruvate is formed via reductive carboxylation of acetyl-CoA, oxaloacetate via carboxylation of pyruvate or phosphoenol pyruvate, and α-ketoglutarate from oxaloacetate plus acetyl-CoA via citrate and isocitrate. Since C-5 of glutamate is derived from CO2, citrate must have been formed via a (R)-citrate synthase rather than a(S)-citrate synthase. The synthesis of ribose from 1.8 mol of acetate and 1.4 mol of CO2 excludes the operation of the Calvin cycle in this chemolithotrophically growing bacterium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Biologie-Mikrobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-3550, Marburg, Federal Republic of Germany

    Werner Badziong, Bernhard Ditter & Rudolf K. Thauer

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  1. Werner Badziong
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  2. Bernhard Ditter
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  3. Rudolf K. Thauer
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Badziong, W., Ditter, B. & Thauer, R.K. Acetate and carbon dioxide assimilation by Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Marburg), growing on hydrogen and sulfate as sole energy source. Arch. Microbiol. 123, 301–305 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406665

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