metabolismArticle Free Pass
- A summary of metabolism
- The fragmentation of complex molecules
- The catabolism of glucose
- The catabolism of sugars other than glucose
- The catabolism of lipids (fats)
- The catabolism of proteins
- The combustion of food materials
- The oxidation of molecular fragments
- Biological energy transduction
- The biosynthesis of cell components
- The nature of biosynthesis
- The supply of biosynthetic precursors
- The synthesis of building blocks
- The synthesis of macromolecules
- Regulation of metabolism
Although the catabolism of carbohydrates can occur via a variety of routes (see Figure 4), all give rise to pyruvate. During the catabolism of pyruvate, one carbon atom is lost as carbon dioxide and the remaining two form acetyl coenzyme A ; these two are involved in the TCA cycle ( and [Reaction ). Because the TCA cycle is initiated by the condensation of acetyl coenzyme A with oxaloacetate, which is regenerated in each turn of the cycle, the removal of any intermediate from the cycle would cause the cycle to stop. Yet, as also indicated in Figure 4, various essential cell components are derived from α-oxoglutarate, succinyl coenzyme A, and oxaloacetate, so that these compounds are, in fact, removed from the cycle. Microbial growth with a carbohydrate as the sole carbon source is thus possible only if a cellular process occurs that effects the net formation of some TCA cycle intermediate from an intermediate of carbohydrate catabolism. Such a process, which replenishes the TCA cycle, has been described as an anaplerotic reaction.
The anaplerotic function may be carried out by either of two enzymes that catalyze the fixation of carbon dioxide onto a three-carbon compound, either pyruvate  or phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP, [50a]) to form oxaloacetate, which has four carbon atoms. Both reactions require energy. In  it is supplied by the cleavage of ATP to ADP and inorganic phosphate (Pi); in [50a] it is supplied by the release of the high-energy phosphate of PEP as inorganic phosphate. Pyruvate serves as a carbon dioxide acceptor not only in many bacteria and fungi but also in the livers and kidneys of higher organisms, including man; PEP serves as the carbon dioxide acceptor in many bacteria, such as those that inhabit the gut.
Unlike higher organisms, many bacteria and fungi can grow on acetate or compounds such as ethanol or a fatty acid that can be catabolized to acetyl coenzyme A. Under these conditions, the net formation of TCA cycle intermediates can proceed via different ways. For example, in obligate anaerobic bacteria, pyruvate can be formed from acetyl coenzyme A and carbon dioxide ; reducing equivalents [2H] are necessary for the reaction. The pyruvate so formed can then react via either step  or [50a].
51] does not occur in facultative anaerobic organisms or in strict aerobes, however. Instead, in these organisms two molecules of acetyl coenzyme A give rise to the net synthesis of a four-carbon intermediate of the TCA cycle via a route known as the glyoxylate cycle. In this route (Figure 8), the steps of the TCA cycle that lead to the loss of carbon dioxide (see , , and [Reaction ) are bypassed. Instead of being oxidized to oxalosuccinate, as occurs in , isocitrate is split by isocitrate lyase  in a reaction similar to that of 4] and  of carbohydrate fragmentation. The dotted line in  indicates the way in which isocitrate is split. The products are
succinate and glyoxylate. Glyoxylate, like oxaloacetate, is the anion of an α-oxoacid and thus can condense, in a reaction catalyzed by malate synthase, with acetyl coenzyme A; the products of this reaction are coenzyme A and malate .
In conjunction with the reactions of the TCA cycle that effect the re-formation of isocitrate from malate (reaction , , and ), steps  and  lead to the net production of a four-carbon compound (malate) from two two-carbon units (glyoxylate and acetyl coenzyme A). The sequence thus complements the TCA cycle, enabling the cycle to fulfill the dual roles of providing both energy and biosynthetic building blocks when the sole carbon source is a two-carbon compound such as acetate.
Other examples of anaplerotic pathways used to form cellular building blocks include the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway and the methylaspartate pathway. The ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway is used by organisms lacking the isocitrate lyase enzyme, such as the bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. In this pathway two acetyl-CoA molecules are combined to produce acetoactyl-CoA, which subsequently reacts to form the intermediate ethylmalonyl-CoA. Ethylmalonyl-CoA is acted upon to form methylmalonyl-CoA, which is cleaved to produce glyoxylate and propionyl-CoA, leading to the formation of malate and succinyl-CoA, respectively. In the methylaspartate pathway the intermediate compound methylaspartate is formed from acetyl-CoA and undergoes a series of reactions to produce glyoxylate. Glyoxylate then reacts with acetyl-CoA, ultimately forming malate. The methylaspartate pathway of acetyl-CoA assimilation was discovered in a primitive single-celled prokaryotic organism known as Haloarcula marismortui, which lacks several of the genes that encode enzymes needed for the glyoxylate and ethylmalonyl-CoA pathways.
Growth of microorganisms on TCA cycle intermediates
Most aerobic microorganisms grow readily on substances such as succinate or malate as their sole source of carbon. Under these circumstances, the formation of the intermediates of carbohydrate metabolism requires an enzymatic step ancillary to the central pathways. In most cases this step is catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase . Oxaloacetate is decarboxylated (i.e., carbon dioxide is removed) during this energy-requiring reaction. The energy may be supplied by ATP or a similar substance (e.g., GTP) that can readily be derived from it via a reaction of the type shown in [43a]. The products are PEP, carbon dioxide, and ADP.
Another reaction that can yield an intermediate of carbohydrate catabolism is catalyzed by the so-called malic enzyme; in this reaction, malate is decarboxylated to pyruvate, with concomitant reduction of NADP+ . The primary role of malic enzyme, however, may be to generate reduced NADP+ for biosynthesis rather than to form an intermediate of carbohydrate catabolism.
The synthesis of building blocks
The formation of sugars from noncarbohydrate precursors, gluconeogenesis, is of major importance in all living organisms. In the light, photosynthetic plants and microorganisms incorporate, or fix, carbon dioxide onto a five-carbon sugar and, via a sequence of transfer reactions, re-form the same sugar while also effecting the net synthesis of the glycolytic intermediate, 3-phosphoglycerate (see photosynthesis: The process of photosynthesis: carbon fixation and reduction). Phosphoglycerate is the precursor of starch, cell-wall carbohydrates, and other plant polysaccharides. A situation similar in principle applies to the growth of microorganisms on precursors of acetyl coenzyme A (Figure 8) or on intermediates of the TCA cycle—that is, a large variety of cell components are derived from carbohydrates that, in turn, are synthesized from these noncarbohydrate precursors. Higher organisms also readily convert glucogenic amino acids (i.e., those that do not yield acetyl coenzyme A as a catabolic product) into TCA cycle intermediates, which are then converted into glucose. The amounts of glucose thus transformed depend on the needs of the organism for protein synthesis and on the availability of fuels other than glucose. The synthesis of blood glucose from lactate, which occurs largely in liver, is a particularly active process during recovery from intense muscular activity.
Most of the steps in the pathway for the biosynthesis of glucose from pyruvate are catalyzed by the enzymes of glycolysis; the direction of the reactions is reversed. Three virtually irreversible steps in glucose catabolism (see [Reaction , , and [step ) that cannot be utilized in gluconeogenesis, however, are bypassed by alternative reactions that tend to proceed in the direction of glucose synthesis (Figure 9).
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