AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de Bok, F. A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Boone, D. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by de Bok, F. A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Boone, D. R.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by de Bok, F. A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Boone, D. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2001, p. 1800-1804, Vol. 67, No. 4
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.4.1800-1804.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Pathway of Propionate Oxidation by a Syntrophic Culture of Smithella propionica and Methanospirillum hungatei

F. A. M. de Bok,1,* A. J. M. Stams,1 C. Dijkema,2 and D. R. Boone3

Laboratory of Microbiology1 and Wageningen NMR Centre,2 Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, and Department of Biology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon3

Received 4 October 2000/Accepted 22 January 2001

The pathway of propionate conversion in a syntrophic coculture of Smithella propionica and Methanospirillum hungatei JF1 was investigated by 13C-NMR spectroscopy. Cocultures produced acetate and butyrate from propionate. [3-13C]propionate was converted to [2-13C]acetate, with no [1-13C]acetate formed. Butyrate from [3-13C]propionate was labeled at the C2 and C4 positions in a ratio of about 1:1.5. Double-labeled propionate (2,3-13C) yielded not only double-labeled acetate but also single-labeled acetate at the C1 or C2 position. Most butyrate formed from [2,3-13C]propionate was also double labeled in either the C1 and C2 atoms or the C3 and C4 atoms in a ratio of about 1:1.5. Smaller amounts of single-labeled butyrate and other combinations were also produced. 1-13C-labeled propionate yielded both [1-13C]acetate and [2-13C]acetate. When 13C-labeled bicarbonate was present, label was not incorporated into acetate, propionate, or butyrate. In each of the incubations described above, 13C was never recovered in bicarbonate or methane. These results indicate that S. propionica does not degrade propionate via the methyl-malonyl-coenzyme A (CoA) pathway or any other of the known pathways, such as the acryloyl-CoA pathway or the reductive carboxylation pathway. Our results strongly suggest that propionate is dismutated to acetate and butyrate via a six-carbon intermediate.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Hesselink van Suchtelenweg 4, 6703 CT Wageningen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-317-483752. Fax: 31-317-483829. E-mail: Frank.deBok{at}algemeen.micr.wau.nl.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2001, p. 1800-1804, Vol. 67, No. 4
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.4.1800-1804.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.