13 C and 1 H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Glycogen Futile Cycling in Strains of the Genus Fibrobacter

We investigated the carbon metabolism of three strains ofFibrobacter succinogenes and one strain ofFibrobacter intestinalis . The four strains produced the same amounts of the metabolites succinate, acetate, and formate in approximately the same ratio (3.7/1/0.3). The four strains similarly stored glycogen during all growth phases, and the glycogen-to-protein ratio was close to 0.6 during the exponential growth phase.13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of [1-13 C]glucose utilization by resting cells of the four strains revealed a reversal of glycolysis at the triose phosphate level and the same metabolic pathways. Glycogen futile cycling was demonstrated by13 C NMR by following the simultaneous metabolism of labeled [13 C]glycogen and exogenous unlabeled glucose. The isotopic dilutions of the CH2 of succinate and the CH3 of acetate when the resting cells were metabolizing [1-13 C]glucose and unlabeled glycogen were precisely quantified by using13 C-filtered spin-echo difference1 H NMR spectroscopy. The measured isotopic dilutions were not the same for succinate and acetate; in the case of succinate, the dilutions reflected only the contribution of glycogen futile cycling, while in the case of acetate, another mechanism was also involved. Results obtained in complementary experiments are consistent with reversal of the succinate synthesis pathway. Our results indicated that for all of the strains, from 12 to 16% of the glucose entering the metabolic pathway originated from prestored glycogen. Although genetically diverse, the fourFibrobacter strains studied had very similar carbon metabolism characteristics.