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I M Robinson

Publications and source records attributed to I M Robinson.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1974

Tryptophan biosynthesis from indole-3-acetic acid by anaerobic bacteria from the rumen.

Microbes in ruminal contents incorporated (14)C into cells when they were incubated in vitro in the presence of [(14)C]carboxyl-labeled indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Most of the cellular (14)C was found to be in tryptophan from the protein fractions of the cells. Pure cultures of several important ruminal species did not incorporate labeled IAA, but all four strains of Ruminococcus albus tested utilized IAA for tryptophan synthesis. R. albus did not incorporate (14)C into tryptophan during growth in medium containing either labeled serine or labeled shikimic acid. The mechanism of tryptophan biosynthesis from IAA is not known but appears to be different from any described biosynthetic pathway. We propose that a reductive carboxylation, perhaps involving a low-potential electron donor such as ferredoxin, is involved.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1970

Biosynthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate by the reductive carboxylation of succinate in Bacteroides ruminicola.

Experiments with growing cells and with cell-free extracts of Bacteroides ruminicola indicate that this anaerobic bacterium can synthesize alpha-ketoglutarate by a reductive carboxylation of succinate. When the organism was grown in medium containing succinate-1,4-(14)C, most of the radioactivity in cells was in the protein fraction and most of the (14)C in protein was in the glutamic acid family of amino acids (glutamate, proline, and arginine). When unlabeled succinate was added to culture medium containing glucose-U-(14)C, incorporation of radioactivity into the glutamic acid family of amino acids was greatly reduced. This supports the concept that succinate is an intermediate in synthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate. Cell-free extracts of the organism incubated with succinate-1,4-(14)C incorporated (14)C into amino acids and most of this was found in glutamate. The cofactors which stimulate glutamate synthesis from succinate by extracts from these cells appear to be similar to the factors that have been demonstrated with extracts from photosynthetic bacteria. The position of label in glutamate synthesized from succinate-1,4-(14)C, the probable absence of isocitric dehydrogenase, and studies with labeled citrate and with inhibitors of citric acid cycle enzymes support the concept of a reductive carboxylation of succinate as the only, or at least a major, mechanism for synthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate in this organism. This appears to be the first evidence for a net synthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate by this reaction in a nonphotosynthetic heterotrophic organism.

Bacteroides↗
PubMed1969

Isoleucine biosynthesis from 2-methylbutyric acid by anaerobic bacteria from the rumen.

Microorganisms in ruminal ingesta and pure cultures of anaerobic ruminal bacteria of different physiological and morphological groups incorporated (14)C from labeled 2-methylbutyrate during growth. The radioactivity was incorporated mainly into lipid and protein. Isoleucine was the only labeled amino acid found in acid hydrolysates of protein from either pure or mixed cultures. Radioactivity in isoleucine synthesized from 2-methylbutyrate-1-(14)C was entirely in carbon-2. Thus, the carboxylation of 2-methylbutyrate is a pathway for synthesis of isoleucine different from that operative in many aerobic and facultative microorganisms. The specific activity of isoleucine from 2-methylbutyrate by Bacteroides rumminicola 23 increased with higher concentrations of 2-methylbutyrate (2.6 to 44 x 10(-5)m) in the growth medium. At the highest concentration, the specific activity of isoleucine synthesized was 40% of the specific activity of the 2-methylbutyrate in the growth medium. The use of enzymatic casein hydrolysate, oxytocin, or vasopressin rather than ammonia as nitrogen source for growth of strain 23 depressed the incorporation of 2-methylbutyrate into isoleucine. Synthesis of isoleucine from 2-methylbutyrate appears to be an important reaction in the rumen.

Animals↗
PubMed1967

Biosynthesis of phenylalanine from phenylacetate by Chromatium and Rhodospirillum rubrum.

Cultures of Chromatium strain D and Rhodospirillum rubrum incorporated (14)C from phenylacetate-1-(14)C during anaerobic growth. The radioactivity in the protein fraction of cells was mainly in phenylalanine. Phenylalanine from Chromatium cells grown in phenylacetate-1-(14)C was labeled at carbon 2. Incorporation of phenylacetate by Chromatium was decreased in the presence of exogenous phenylalanine, and de novo synthesis of phenylalanine from bicarbonate was less in medium containing either phenylalanine or phenylacetate. These organisms, and also certain anaerobic rumen bacteria, apparently carboxylate phenylacetate to synthesize the phenylalanine carbon skeleton. The mechanism of the carboxylation is unknown; however, it appears to be dependent upon anaerobic conditions, since R. rubrum did not synthesize phenylalanine from phenylacetate during aerobic growth in the dark.

Autoradiography↗
PubMed1966

Importance of the isovalerate carboxylation pathway of leucine biosynthesis in the rumen.

Certain anaerobic ruminal bacteria synthesize the leucine carbon skeleton by use of a pathway different from that described in other microorganisms. These organisms carboxylate the intact carbon skeleton of isovalerate, synthesizing leucine-2-C(14) from isovalerate-1-C(14). Strains of Bacteroides ruminicola and Peptostreptococcus elsdenii were like Ruminococcus flavefaciens in that they incorporated appreciable amounts of C(14) from isovalerate-1-C(14) into cellular protein and in that the only labeled amino acid found was leucine. The specific activity of beta-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase in extracts from R. flavefaciens and from the mixed bacterial population from the rumen was very low as compared with the specific activity of this enzyme in extracts from Escherichia coli. This suggests that the pathway of leucine biosynthesis that operates in many aerobic and facultative microorganisms is not the major pathway in rumen bacteria. This was supported by the finding that after fermentation of whole rumen contents with acetate-2-C(14), leucine from the bacterial cells had a specific activity lower than one would expect if acetate was incorporated directly into carbons 1 and 2 of leucine.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

DNA characterization of Lyme disease spirochetes.

Lyme disease spirochetes (LDS) have phenotypic characteristics of both treponemes and borreliae. To ascertain whether one or more species of LDS exist, as well as their taxonomic status, we determined the DNA base (G + C) content for three strains of LDS, the DNA relatedness of ten strains isolated in the United States or Europe, and the DNA relatedness of LDS to other spirochetes. The G + C content of the three LDS strains was 28.1-29.0 mol%, most similar to those of Borellia hermsii (30.6 mol %) and Treponema hyodysenteriae (25.6 mol %) among the other spirochetes tested. DNA hybridization studies of nine LDS strains to a reference strain isolated from human blood revealed divergence (unpaired bases) within related nucleotide sequences of only 0.0-1.0 percent, indicating the strains were one species. Similarly, relatedness values of seven strains to the reference strain were high: 58-98 percent (mean, 71 percent) in 50 degrees C reactions and 50-93 percent (mean, 69 percent) in 65 degrees C reactions. Labeled DNA from B. hermsii was 30-40 percent related to three Lyme disease spirochete strains in 50 degrees C reactions and 8-10 percent related in 65 degrees C reactions. In contrast, DNA from the reference LDS strain showed relatedness of only 1 percent to DNAs of two leptospires and only 16 percent to DNA from T. hyodysenteriae. We conclude that LDS are a single species, genetically unlike treponemes or leptospires, which belong in the genus Borrelia.

Borrelia↗