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Journal of Bacteriology, December 1999, p. 7154-7160, Vol. 181, No. 23
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Bacillus subtilis yckG and
yckF Encode Two Key Enzymes of the Ribulose Monophosphate
Pathway Used by Methylotrophs, and yckH Is Required for
Their Expression
Hisashi
Yasueda,*
Yoshio
Kawahara, and
Shin-ichi
Sugimoto
Fermentation and Biotechnology Laboratories,
Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, 210-0801, Japan
Received 14 June 1999/Accepted 14 September 1999
The ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) pathway is one of the metabolic
pathways for the synthesis of compounds containing carbon-carbon bonds from one-carbon units and is found in many methane- and methanol-utilizing bacteria, which are known as methylotrophs. The
characteristic enzymes of this pathway are 3-hexulose-6-phosphate synthase (HPS) and 6-phospho-3-hexuloisomerase (PHI), neither of which
was thought to exist outside methylotrophs. However, the presumed
yckG gene product (YckG) of Bacillus subtilis
shows a primary structure similar to that of methylotroph HPS (F. Kunst et al., Nature 390:249-256, 1997). We have also investigated the sequence similarity between the yckF gene product (YckF)
and methylotroph PHI (Y. Sakai, R. Mitsui, Y. Katayama, H. Yanase,
and N. Kato, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 176:125-130, 1999) and found that
the yckG and yckF genes of B. subtilis express enzymatic activities of HPS and PHI,
respectively. Both of these activities were concomitantly induced in
B. subtilis by formaldehyde, with induction showing dependence on the yckH gene, but were not induced by
methanol, formate, or methylamine. Disruption of either gene caused
moderate sensitivity to formaldehyde, suggesting that these enzymes may act as a detoxification system for formaldehyde in B. subtilis. In conclusion, we found an active yckG (for
HPS)-yckF (for PHI) gene structure (now named
hxlA-hxlB) in a nonmethylotroph, B. subtilis, which inherently preserves the RuMP pathway.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address:
Fermentation and Biotechnology Laboratories, Ajinomoto
Co., Inc., 1-1, Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, 210-0801, Japan. Phone: 81-44-245-5972. Fax: 81-44-222-0129. E-mail:
blr_yasueda{at}te2.ajinomoto.co.jp or Hisashi
Yasueda{at}Ajinomoto.com..
Journal of Bacteriology, December 1999, p. 7154-7160, Vol. 181, No. 23
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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