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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2003, p. 4920-4929, Vol. 185, No. 16
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.16.4920-4929.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Benzoate-Coenzyme A Ligase from Thauera aromatica: an Enzyme Acting in Anaerobic and Aerobic Pathways

Mikrobiologie, Institut für Biologie II, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg,¹ Zentrum der Biologischen Chemie, Universitätsklinikum, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany²

Received 12 March 2003/ Accepted 28 May 2003

In the denitrifying member of the ß-Proteobacteria Thauera aromatica, the anaerobic metabolism of aromatic acids such as benzoate or 2-aminobenzoate is initiated by the formation of the coenzyme A (CoA) thioester, benzoyl-CoA and 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA, respectively. Both aromatic substrates were transformed to the acyl-CoA intermediate by a single CoA ligase (AMP forming) that preferentially acted on benzoate. This benzoate-CoA ligase was purified and characterized as a 57-kDa monomeric protein. Based on V_max/K_m, the specificity constant for 2-aminobenzoate was 15 times lower than that for benzoate; this may be the reason for the slower growth on 2-aminobenzoate. The benzoate-CoA ligase gene was cloned and sequenced and was found not to be part of the gene cluster encoding the general benzoyl-CoA pathway of anaerobic aromatic metabolism. Rather, it was located in a cluster of genes coding for a novel aerobic benzoate oxidation pathway. In line with this finding, the same CoA ligase was induced during aerobic growth with benzoate. A deletion mutant not only was unable to grow anaerobically on benzoate or 2-aminobenzoate, but also aerobic growth on benzoate was affected. This suggests that benzoate induces a single benzoate-CoA ligase. The product of benzoate activation, benzoyl-CoA, then acts as inducer of separate anaerobic or aerobic pathways of benzoyl-CoA, depending on whether oxygen is lacking or present.

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