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Microbial metabolism of the pyridine ring. The metabolism of pyridine-3,4-diol (3,4-dihydroxypyridine) by Agrobacterium sp.

ABSTRACT: 1. Pyridine-3,4-diol (3,4-dihydroxypyridine, 3-hydroxypyrid-4-one), an intermediate in 4-hydroxypyridine metabolism by an Agrobacterium sp (N.C.I.B. 10413), was converted by extracts into 1mol of pyruvate, 2mol of formate and 1mol of NH(3) at pH7.0. 2. Formate, but not the alternative likely product formamide, was further oxidized fivefold faster by 4-hydroxypyridine-grown washed cells than by similar organisms grown on succinate. 3. The oxidation of pyridine-3,4-diol by crude extracts at pH8.5 required 1mol of O(2)/mol of substrate, produced 1mol of acid and led to the formation of formate and a new compound with an extinction maximum of 285nm (Compound I). This step was believed to be mediated by a new labile dioxygenase (t((1/2))=4h at pH7.0, 4 degrees C) cleaving the pyridine ring between C-2 and C-3. 4. Many of the properties of this pyridine-3,4-diol dioxygenase paralleled those of the extradiol (;meta') oxygenases of aromatic-ring cleavage. The extreme lability of the enzyme has so far precluded extensive purification. 5. Compound I showed changes in the u.v.-absorption spectrum with pH but after acidification it was converted into a new product, 3-formylpyruvate, with an extinction maximum now at 279nm. 6. Both Compound I and 3-formylpyruvate were metabolized by extracts but at very different rates. The slower rate of metabolism of Compound I was nevertheless consistent with that of pyridine-3,4-diol metabolism. 7. On acidification Compound I released about 0.65mol of NH(3) and has been identified as 3-formiminopyruvate. 8. 3-Formylpyruvate was hydrolysed to formate and pyruvate (K(m) 2mum) by an acylpyruvate hydrolase active against several other dioxo homologues. The activity of this enzyme was much lower in extracts of succinate-grown cells.

SUBMITTER: Watson GK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1167999 | biostudies-other | 1974 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:1. Two bacteria, a Bacillus sp. and a Nocardia sp. (strain Z1) were isolated from soil by enrichment with 0.1 percent (v/v) pyridine and grew rapidly on this compound as sole C, N and energy source. The monohydroxypyridines, tetrahydropyridine, piperidine and some other analogues were not utilized for growth or oxidized by washed suspensions of either bacterium. 2. Cell-free extracts were unable to metabolize pyridine even after supplementation with a variety of cofactors or protecting agents. Treatment of cells with toluene led to rapid loss of the ability to oxidize pyridine. 3. In the presence of 10mM-semicarbazide at pH 6.0, Nocardia Z1 accumulated a semialdehyde idenditied as its 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone by chromatography, mixed melting point, mass spectrometry and isotope trapping from [2,6(-14)C]pyridine as glutarate semialdehyde. 4. Extracts of this bacterium prepared from cells grown with pyridine or exposed to the gratuitous inducer 2-picoline, contained high activities of a specific glutarate semialdehyde dehydrogenase. 5. Cells grown with pyridine or glutarate also contained a glutaric dialdehyde dehydrogenase, an acyl-CoA synthetase and elevated amounts of isocitrate lyase but no glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase. 6. Bacillus 4 accumulated in the presence of 10mM-semicarbazide several acidic carbonyl compounds from pyridine among which was succinate semialdehyde. Extracts of this bacillus after growth of the cells with pyridine contained an inducible succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase in amounts at least 50-fold over those found in succinate-grown cells. 7. Two mutants of this bacillus, selected for their inability to grow on pyridine were deficient in succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase. 8. In the presence of 0.2mM-KCN, washed suspensions of Bacillus 4 accumulated formate and possibly formamide from pyridine. The use of [14C]pyridine showed that formate was derived from C-2 of the pyridine ring. 9. The organism had a specific formamide amidohydrolase cleaving formamide quantitatively to formate and NH3. 10. Formate was further oxidized by the particle fraction. There was no soluble formate dehydrogenase in extracts.

Project description:Pyridine and its derivatives constitute the majority of heterocyclic aromatic compounds that occur largely as a result of human activities and contribute to environmental pollution. It is known that they can be degraded by various bacteria in the environment; however, the degradation of unsubstituted pyridine has not yet been completely resolved. In this study, we present data on the pyridine catabolic pathway in Arthrobacter sp. strain 68b at the level of genes, enzymes, and metabolites. The pyr gene cluster, responsible for the degradation of pyridine, was identified in a catabolic plasmid, p2MP. The pathway of pyridine metabolism consisted of four enzymatic steps and ended by the formation of succinic acid. The first step in the degradation of pyridine proceeds through a direct ring cleavage catalyzed by a two-component flavin-dependent monooxygenase system, encoded by pyrA (pyridine monooxygenase) and pyrE genes. The genes pyrB, pyrC, and pyrD were found to encode (Z)-N-(4-oxobut-1-enyl)formamide dehydrogenase, amidohydrolase, and succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, respectively. These enzymes participate in the subsequent steps of pyridine degradation. The metabolites of these enzymatic reactions were identified, and this allowed us to reconstruct the entire pyridine catabolism pathway in Arthrobacter sp. 68b.IMPORTANCE The biodegradation pathway of pyridine, a notorious toxicant, is relatively unexplored, as no genetic data related to this process have ever been presented. In this paper, we describe the plasmid-borne pyr gene cluster, which includes the complete set of genes responsible for the degradation of pyridine. A key enzyme, the monooxygenase PyrA, which is responsible for the first step of the catabolic pathway, performs an oxidative cleavage of the pyridine ring without typical activation steps such as reduction or hydroxylation of the heterocycle. This work provides new insights into the metabolism of N-heterocyclic compounds in nature.

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Microbial metabolism of the pyridine ring. The metabolism of pyridine-3,4-diol (3,4-dihydroxypyridine) by Agrobacterium sp.

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