Abstract
A mercury resistant-soil bacterium P.10.15, identified as a close relative of Pseudomonas veronii, was shown to accumulate a specific compound in the stationary phase of growth. This compound is converted to a long-lived free radical under oxidizing conditions, as registered by its EPR signal at room temperature. The compound was purified by ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography and identified by mass spectroscopy, 2D NMR, and EPR as a trisaccharide β-D-GlcpNOH,CH3-(1→6)-α-D-Glcp-(1→1)-α-D-Glcp, or, in other words, as 6-O-(2-deoxy-2-{N-methyl}hydroxylamino-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-α-α-trehalose, previously discovered in Micrococcus luteus (lysodeikticus) and named lysodektose. It is suggested that the compound is a novel intermediate of a previously unknown basic metabolic pathway of trehalose transformation in bacteria, a potential target for antibacterial drug development.
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Ostrovsky, D.N., Diomina, G.R., Biniukov, V.I. et al. Free Radicals in Mercury-Resistant Bacteria Indicate a Novel Metabolic Pathway. Microbiology 72, 528–533 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026030930591
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026030930591