Open AccessIn vivo analysis of straight‐chain and branched‐chain fatty acid biosynthesis in three actinomycetes
Author(s) -
Wallace Kimberlee K.,
Zhao Bitao,
McArthur Hamish A.I.,
Reynolds Kevin A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07781.x
Subject(s) - fatty acid , valine , biochemistry , biosynthesis , chemistry , catabolite repression , isomerization , chain (unit) , stereochemistry , amino acid , enzyme , gene , mutant , catalysis , physics , astronomy
The starter units for branched‐chain and straight‐chain fatty acid biosynthesis was investigated in vivo in three actinomycetes using stable isotopes. Branched‐chain fatty acids, which constitute the majority of the fatty acid pool, were confirmed to be biosynthesized using the amino acid degradation products methylbutyryl‐CoA and isobutyryl‐CoA as starter units. Straight‐chain fatty acids were shown to be constructed using butyryl‐CoA as a starter unit. Isomerization of the valine catabolite isobutyryl‐CoA was shown to be only a minor source of this butyryl‐CoA.