Biochemical Reconstruction of a Metabolic Pathway from a Marine Bacterium Reveals Its Mechanism of Pectin Depolymerization.

ABSTRACT: Pectin is a complex uronic acid-containing polysaccharide typically found in plant cell walls, though forms of pectin are also found in marine diatoms and seagrasses. Genetic loci that target pectin have recently been identified in two phyla of marine bacteria. These loci appear to encode a pectin saccharification pathway that is distinct from the canonical pathway typically associated with phytopathogenic terrestrial bacteria. However, very few components of the marine pectin metabolism pathway have been experimentally validated. Here, we biochemically reconstructed the pectin saccharification pathway from a marine Pseudoalteromonas sp. in vitro and show that it results in the production of galacturonate and the key metabolic intermediate 5-keto-4-deoxyuronate (DKI). We demo

SUBMITTER: Hobbs JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6293105 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature