ABSTRACTSalmonella entericserovar Typhimurium, a major cause of food-borne illness, is capable of using a variety of carbon and nitrogen sources. Fructoselysine and glucoselysine are Maillard reaction products formed by the reaction of glucose or fructose, respectively, with the ε-amine group of lysine. We report here thatS. Typhimurium utilizes fructoselysine and glucoselysine as carbon and nitrogen sources via a mannose family phosphotransferase (PTS) encoded bygfrABCD(glucoselysine/fructoselysine PTS components EIIA, EIIB, EIIC, and EIID; locus numbers STM14_5449 to STM14_5454 inS. Typhimurium 14028s). Genes coding for two predicted deglycases within thegfroperon,gfrEandgfrF, were required for growth with glucoselysine and fructoselysine, respectively. GfrF demonstrated fructoselysine-6-phosphate deglycase activity in a coupled enzyme assay. The biochemical and genetic analyses were consistent with a pathway in which fructoselysine and glucoselysine are phosphorylated at the C-6 position of the sugar by the GfrABCD PTS as they are transported across the membrane. The resulting fructoselysine-6-phosphate and glucoselysine-6-phosphate subsequently are cleaved by GfrF and GfrE to form lysine and glucose-6-phosphate or fructose-6-phosphate. Interestingly, althoughS. Typhimurium can use lysine derived from fructoselysine or glucoselysine as a sole nitrogen source, it cannot use exogenous lysine as a nitrogen source to support growth. Expression ofgfrABCDEFwas dependent on the alternative sigma factor RpoN (σ54) and an RpoN-dependent LevR-like activator, which we designated GfrR.IMPORTANCESalmonellaphysiology has been studied intensively, but there is much we do not know regarding the repertoire of nutrients these bacteria are able to use for growth. This study shows that a previously uncharacterized PTS and associated enzymes function together to transport and catabolize fructoselysine and glucoselysine. Knowledge of the range of nutrients thatSalmonellautilizes is important, as it could lead to the development of new strategies for reducing the load ofSalmonellain food animals, thereby mitigating its entry into the human food supply.
Production of Feruloyl Esterase from Aspergillus niger by Solid-State Fermentation on Different Carbon Sources