Role of sugar uptake and metabolic intermediates on catabolite repression in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

Many phosphorylated intermediates exert catabolite repression on the enzyme acetoin dehydrogenase in B. subtilis. This was shown with strains that are blocked at different positions in central metabolism when they receive sugars that cannot be metabolized past enzymatic block(s). In the case of sorbitol, transport events were not involved in catabolite repression, for this sugar cannot repress acetoin dehydrogenase in a strain lacking sorbitol dehydrogenase but otherwise able to take up sorbitol. The presence of glucose did not markedly influence the uptake of acetoin.