scholarly journals Major roles of isocitrate lyase and malate synthase in bacterial and fungal pathogenesis

Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (10) ◽  
pp. 3166-3175 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Dunn ◽  
J. A. Ramírez-Trujillo ◽  
I. Hernández-Lucas

The glyoxylate cycle is an anaplerotic pathway of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that allows growth on C2 compounds by bypassing the CO2-generating steps of the TCA cycle. The unique enzymes of this route are isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase (MS). ICL cleaves isocitrate to glyoxylate and succinate, and MS converts glyoxylate and acetyl-CoA to malate. The end products of the bypass can be used for gluconeogenesis and other biosynthetic processes. The glyoxylate cycle occurs in Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea. Recent studies of ICL- and MS-deficient strains as well as proteomic and transcriptional analyses show that these enzymes are often important in human, animal and plant pathogenesis. These studies have extended our understanding of the metabolic pathways essential for the survival of pathogens inside the host and provide a more complete picture of the physiology of pathogenic micro-organisms. Hopefully, the recent knowledge generated about the role of the glyoxylate cycle in virulence can be used for the development of new vaccines, or specific inhibitors to combat bacterial and fungal diseases.

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1667-C1667
Author(s):  
Yangshin Park ◽  
Sangkee Rhee

Glyoxylate cycle is a branched metabolic pathway in the TCA cycle that was initially discovered in microorganisms. The branched cycle plays an essential role in those organisms by providing the means for microorganisms to utilize acetate, ethanol, or fatty acids as carbon sources. In fact, pathogenic microorganisms rely on the glyoxylate cycle, rather than the TCA cycle, during infection. Therefore, the enzymes in the glyoxylate cycle of pathogens were suggested to be one of drug target molecules. Magnaporthe grisea isocitrate lyase (MgICL), a key enzyme in the cycle, is highly expressed during appressorium-mediated plant infection. In order to characterize the structural and functional features of MgICL, a structure of MgICL was determined at 2.7 Å resolution by X-ray crystallography. Recently, we are carrying out structure determination of MgICL in complex with a possible candidate for inhibitors. Our study could provide detailed structural features of MgICL and the binding mode of an inhibitor. This work was supported by a grant from Center for Fungal Pathogenesis by National Research Foundation, Republic of Korea.


2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Rylott ◽  
M. A. Hooks ◽  
I. A. Graham

Molecular genetic approaches in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (ColO) are shedding new light on the role and control of the pathways associated with the mobilization of lipid reserves during oilseed germination and post-germinative growth. Numerous independent studies have reported on the expression of individual genes encoding enzymes from the three major pathways: β-oxidation, the glyoxylate cycle and gluconeogenesis. However, a single comprehensive study of representative genes and enzymes from the different pathways in a single plant species has not been done. Here we present results from Arabidopsis that demonstrate the co-ordinate regulation of gene expression and enzyme activities for the acyl-CoA oxidase- and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolasemediated steps of β-oxidation, the isocitrate lyase and malate synthase steps of the glyoxylate cycle and the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase step of gluconeogenesis. The mRNA abundance and enzyme activities increase to a peak at stage 2, 48 h after the onset of seed germination, and decline thereafter either to undetectable levels (for malate synthase and isocitrate lyase) or low basal levels (for the genes of β-oxidation and gluconeogenesis). The co-ordinate induction of all these genes at the onset of germination raises the possibility that a global regulatory mechanism operates to induce the expression of genes associated with the mobilization of storage reserves during the heterotrophic growth period.


1967 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Krishnamurti ◽  
L. W. McElroy

When cells of E. coli 64 were harvested in their exponential phase of growth in an acetate medium and incubated aerobically with sodium acetate-2-C14, about 33% of the label appeared in CO2 after 1 hr. Of the radioactivity in the cells, 72% was recovered in the protein hydrolysate, 8% in the nucleic acid, 6% in the lipid and 14% in the ethanol-soluble fractions. The radioactivity in the protein hydrolysate of cells incubated with sodium acetate-2-C14 was approximately 20 times that in the hydrolysate of cells incubated with C14O2 as the carbon source. By spectrophotometric methods, it was demonstrated that cell-free extracts of cells grown on acetate contained acetate kinase and phosphate acetyltransferase, plus, as demonstrated by spectrophotometric and isotopic methods, isocitrate lyase and malate synthase which are characteristic of the glyoxylate cycle. The enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle could not be demonstrated in cell-free extracts of E. coli 64 grown on glucose under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Possible functions that E. coli 64 may have in the maintenance of anaerobiosis in the rumen and utilization of acetate through the glyoxylate pathway are discussed.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (14) ◽  
pp. 1411-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina E. Bimpong

Lipids measured as acyl glycerides and free fatty acids provided the major energy source during a 6-h motile and a 2-h germination period in zoospores and cysts, respectively, of Phytophthora palmivora. Carbohydrates and proteins decreased slightly during the 6-h motile period but increased significantly during germination. Specific activity of isocitrate lyase decreased both during zoospore motility and cyst germination. Only trace amounts of malate synthase activity were detected in zoospores and cysts. The activities of both NAD-isocitrate and malate dehydrogenases increased slightly, while those of NADP-isocitrate and succinate dehydrogenases decreased during the 6-h motile period. During the 2-h germination period the specific activities of NAD- and NADP-isocitrate, malate, and succinate dehydrogenases increased. It appears that during the motile stage the glyoxylate cycle provided more metabolites for the Krebs cycle than it did during germination.


1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 723 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Pistelli ◽  
P Perata ◽  
A Alpi

In order to elucidate the metabolism of the peroxisomes during foliar senescence of leaf beet (Beta vulgaris L., var. cicla), peroxisomal activities have been determined at various stages of senescence. Catalase and hydroxypyruvate reductase activities decreased whereas those of the β-oxidation pathway and glyoxylate cycle enzymes increased at the same time. The increased activities of malate synthase, isocitrate lyase, malate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase indicate that the glyoxylate cycle might be activated during the foliar senescence of leaf beet.


1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 718-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nachman Paster ◽  
Ilan Chet

The role of some enzymes in sclerotia production by Aspergillus ochraceus was studied using a sclerotia-producing strain grown under conditions in which sclerotia production was either favoured or inhibited. In addition, a mutant strain incapable of producing sclerotia was used. No significant differences in patterns of soluble proteins, polyphenol oxidase, and esterases could be detected electrophoretically by gel electrophoresis, while the peroxidase pattern of both the sclerotia-producing strain and the mutant showed three bands as compared with two bands that appeared when sclerotia formation was inhibited. The activities of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes, malate dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase, and those of the pentose-phosphate pathway, glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, were almost identical in sclerotia- and nonsclerotia-producing mycelia. The activities of isocitrate lyase and malate synthetase, key enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle, and that of glyoxylate dehydrogenase which is related to this cycle were significantly reduced when sclerotia formation was inhibited either by methionine or by high levels of CO2. It is suggested that the glyoxylate cycle plays an important role in sclerotia formation in the fungus.


1973 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 607-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bégin-Heick

Results are presented on the intracellular localization of some of the enzymes of gluconeogenesis, of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and of related enzymes in Astasia and Euglena grown with various substrates. The results indicate the particulate nature of at least part of the malate synthase of Astasia and of part of the malate synthase and isocitrate lyase in Euglena. However, the presence of glyoxysomes (microbodies) in Astasia and Euglena is still open to question, since it has not, so far, been possible to separate the enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle from succinate dehydrogenase in the particulate fraction.


2005 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Prasad Maharjan ◽  
Pak-Lam Yu ◽  
Shona Seeto ◽  
Thomas Ferenci

2005 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 406-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Lu ◽  
Yong-Rui Wu ◽  
Bin Han

Abstract The glyoxylate cycle is a modified form of the tricarboxylic acid cycle that converts C2 compounds into C4 dicarboxylic acids at plant developmental stages. By studying submerged rice seedlings, we revealed the activation of the glyoxylate cycle by identifying the increased transcripts of mRNAs of the genes of isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase (MS), two characteristic enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle. Northern blot analysis showed that ICL and MS were activated in the prolonged anaerobic environment. The activity assay of pyruvate decarboxylase and ICL in the submerged seedlings indicated an 8.8-fold and 3.5-fold increase over that in the unsubmerged seedlings, respectively. The activity assay of acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase in the submerged seedlings indicated a 3-fold increase over that in the unsubmerged seedlings, which is important for initiating acetate metabolism. Consequently, we concluded that the glyoxylate cycle was involved in acetate metabolism under anaerobic conditions.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heegyu Kim ◽  
Ji-Yeon Hwang ◽  
Jongheon Shin ◽  
Ki-Bong Oh

The glyoxylate cycle is a sequence of anaplerotic reactions catalyzed by the key enzymes isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of microorganisms during infection. An icl-deletion mutant of Candida albicans exhibited reduced virulence in mice compared with the wild type. Five diketopiperazines, which are small and stable cyclic peptides, isolated from the marine-derived Streptomyces puniceus Act1085, were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on C. albicans ICL. The structures of these compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic data and comparisons with previously reported data. Cyclo(L-Phe-L-Val) was identified as a potent ICL inhibitor, with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 27 μg/mL. Based on the growth phenotype of the icl-deletion mutants and icl expression analyses, we demonstrated that cyclo(L-Phe-L-Val) inhibits the gene transcription of ICL in C. albicans under C2-carbon-utilizing conditions.


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