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Anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli on d-tartrate depends on the fumarate carrier DcuB and fumarase, rather than the l-tartrate carrier TtdT and l-tartrate dehydratase

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Abstract

Escherichia coli is able to grow under anaerobic conditions on d-tartrate when glycerol is supplied as an electron donor (d-tartrate fermentation). d-Tartrate was converted to succinate. Growth was lost in strains deficient for DcuB, the fumarate/succinate antiporter of fumarate respiration. The l-tartrate/succinate antiporter TtdT of l-tartrate fermentation, or the C4-dicarboxylate carriers DcuA and DcuC, were not able to support d-tartrate transport and fermentation. Deletion of fumB demonstrated, that fumarase B is required for growth on d-tartrate. The mutant lost most (about 79%) of d-tartrate dehydratase activity. l-Tartrate dehydratase (TtdAB), and fumarase A or C, showed no or only a small contribution to d-tartrate dehydratase activity. Therefore d-tartrate is metabolised by a sequence of reactions analogous to that from l-tartrate fermentation, including dehydration to oxaloacetate, which is then converted to malate, fumarate and succinate. The stereoisomer specific carrier TtdT and dehydratase TtdAB of l-tartrate fermentation are substituted by enzymes from general anaerobic fumarate metabolism, the antiporter DcuB and fumarase B, which have a broader substrate specificity. No d-tartrate specific carriers and enzymes are involved in the pathway.

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Acknowledgment

The work was supported by grants to G.U. by Deutsche Forschungs gemeinschaft and the Innovationsstiftung Rheinland-Pfalz. We are grateful to A. Kleefeld (Mainz) for supplying strains IMW374 and plasmid pMW228, and H. Mori (Keio University, Japan) for strains from the NIG/Keio collection. We are very grateful to W. Buckel (Marburg) for helpful discussions on the stereochemistry of d- and l-tartrate and of the corresponding enzymes.

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  1. Institut für Mikrobiologie und Weinforschung, Universität Mainz, Becherweg 15, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Ok Bin Kim, Sebastian Lux & Gottfried Unden

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  1. Ok Bin Kim
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  2. Sebastian Lux
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  3. Gottfried Unden
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Correspondence to Gottfried Unden.

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Communicated by David Kelly.

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Kim, O.B., Lux, S. & Unden, G. Anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli on d-tartrate depends on the fumarate carrier DcuB and fumarase, rather than the l-tartrate carrier TtdT and l-tartrate dehydratase. Arch Microbiol 188, 583–589 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-007-0279-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-007-0279-9

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