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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7148-7155, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7148-7155.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Cometabolism of a Nongrowth Substrate: L-Serine Utilization by Corynebacterium glutamicum
Roman Netzer,
Petra Peters-Wendisch,*
Lothar Eggeling, and
Hermann Sahm
Institut für Biotechnologie, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
Received 26 April 2004/
Accepted 31 July 2004
Despite its key position in central metabolism, L-serine does not support the growth of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Nevertheless, during growth on glucose, L-serine is consumed at rates up to 19.4 ± 4.0 nmol min1 (mg [dry weight])1, resulting in the complete consumption of 100 mM L-serine in the presence of 100 mM glucose and an increased growth yield of about 20%. Use of 13C-labeled L-serine and analysis of cellularly derived metabolites by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that the carbon skeleton of L-serine is mainly converted to pyruvate-derived metabolites such as L-alanine. The sdaA gene was identified in the genome of C. glutamicum, and overexpression of sdaA resulted in (i) functional L-serine dehydratase (L-SerDH) activity, and therefore conversion of L-serine to pyruvate, and (ii) growth of the recombinant strain on L-serine as the single substrate. In contrast, deletion of sdaA decreased the L-serine cometabolism rate with glucose by 47% but still resulted in degradation of L-serine to pyruvate. Cystathionine ß-lyase was additionally found to convert L-serine to pyruvate, and the respective metC gene was induced 2.4-fold under high internal L-serine concentrations. Upon sdaA overexpression, the growth rate on glucose is reduced 36% from that of the wild type, illustrating that even with glucose as a single substrate, intracellular L-serine conversion to pyruvate might occur, although probably the weak affinity of L-SerDH (apparent Km, 11 mM) prevents substantial L-serine degradation.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Biotechnologie, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany. Phone: 49 2461 61 5430. Fax: 49 2461 61 2710. E-mail:
p.wendisch{at}fz-juelich.de.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7148-7155, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7148-7155.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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