The genes and enzymes of phosphonate metabolism by bacteria, and their distribution in the marine environment.

ABSTRACT: Phosphonates are compounds that contain the chemically stable carbon-phosphorus (C-P) bond. They are widely distributed amongst more primitive life forms including many marine invertebrates and constitute a significant component of the dissolved organic phosphorus reservoir in the oceans. Virtually all biogenic C-P compounds are synthesized by a pathway in which the key step is the intramolecular rearrangement of phosphoenolpyruvate to phosphonopyruvate. However C-P bond cleavage by degradative microorganisms is catalyzed by a number of enzymes - C-P lyases, C-P hydrolases, and others of as-yet-uncharacterized mechanism. Expression of some of the pathways of phosphonate catabolism is controlled by ambient levels of inorganic P (Pi) but for others it is Pi-independent. In this report we rev

SUBMITTER: Villarreal-Chiu JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3266647 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature