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Catabolic Pathway for the Production of Skatole and Indoleacetic Acid by the Acetogen Clostridium drakei, Clostridium scatologenes, and Swine Manure

Fermentation Biotechnology Research Unit,¹ Bioproducts and Biocatalysis Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, 1815 N. University St., Peoria, Illinois 61604,² Department of Ecological Microbiology, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany³

Received 31 October 2007/ Accepted 14 January 2008

Skatole (3-methylindole) is a malodorous chemical in stored swine manure and is implicated as a component of foul-tasting pork. Definitive evidence for the skatole pathway is lacking. Deuterium-labeled substrates were employed to resolve this pathway in the acetogenic bacterium Clostridium drakei and Clostridium scatologenes and to determine if a similar pathway is used by microorganisms present in stored swine manure. Indoleacetic acid (IAA) was synthesized from tryptophan by both bacteria, and skatole was synthesized from both IAA and tryptophan. Microorganisms in swine manure produced skatole and other oxidation products from tryptophan, but IAA yielded only skatole. A catabolic mechanism for the synthesis of skatole is proposed.

Published ahead of print on 25 January 2008.