Pathway of glucose catabolism by strain VeGlc2, an anaerobe belonging to the Verrucomicrobiales lineage of bacterial descent

Abstract

Strain VeGlc2, an anaerobic ultramicrobacterium belonging to the Verrucomicrobiales lineage of bacterial descent, fermented glucose to acetate, propionate, succinate, and CO2. The distribution of radiolabel in the fermentation end products produced from position-labelled glucose and in vitro measurements of enzyme activities in crude cell extracts prepared from glucose-grown cells showed that glucose was metabolized via the Embden- Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. The 6-phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.90) activity required pyrophosphate as the phosphoryl donor, and ATP could not replace pyrophosphate. The other enzyme activities were those of a classical Embden- Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. 14CO2 was incorporated into propionate and succinate, suggesting that a carboxylation reaction rather than a transcarboxylation reaction was involved in the reductive pathway leading to succinate and propionate. Difference spectra showed that a type b cytochrome was present, which could be involved in electron transport in the reductive pathway.