Abstract
The hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus was grown on pyruvate as carbon and energy source. The enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis were investigated. The following findings indicate that glucose-6-phosphate formation from pyruvate involves phosphoenolpyruvate synthetase, enzymes of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate phosphatase.
Cell extracts of pyruvate-grown P.furiosus contained the following enzyme activities: phosphoenolpyruvate synthetase (0.025 U/mg, 50 °C), enolase (0.9 U/mg, 80 °C), phosphoglycerate mutase (0.13 U/mg, 55 °C), phosphoglycerate kinase (0.01 U/mg, 50 °C), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase reducing either NADP+ or NAD+ (NADP+: 0.019 U/mg, NAD+: 0.009 U/mg; 50 °C), triosephosphate isomerase (1.4 U/mg, 50 °C), fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (0.0045 U/mg, 55 °C), fructose-1,6-bisphosphate phosphatase (0.026 U/mg, 75 °C), and glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (0.22 U/mg, 50 °C). Kinetic properties (V max values and apparent K m values) of the enzymes indicate that they operate in the direction of sugar synthesis. The specific enzyme activities of phosphoglycerate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (NADP+-reducing) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate phosphatase in pyruvate-grown P. furiosus were by a factor of 3, 10 and 4, respectively, higher as compared to maltose-grown cells suggesting that these enzymes are induced under conditions of gluconeogenesis. Furthermore, cell extracts contained ferredoxin: NADP+ oxidoreductase (0.023 U/mg, 60 °C); phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (0.018 U/mg, 50 °C) acts as an anaplerotic enzyme.
Thus, in P. furiosus sugar formation from pyruvate involves reactions of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, whereas sugar degradation to pyruvate proceeds via a modified “non-phosphorylated” Entner-Doudoroff pathway.
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Schäfer, T., Schönheit, P. Gluconeogenesis from pyruvate in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus: involvement of reactions of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway. Arch. Microbiol. 159, 354–363 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00290918
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00290918