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Updated: May 24, 2026

Direct Detection of the Acetate-forming Activity of the Enzyme Acetate Kinase
Published on: December 19, 2011
Sugar phosphorylation activity in ruminal acetogens
W Jiang1, R S Pinder, J A Patterson
1Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Abstract:
Acetogenic bacteria Acetitomaculum ruminis, Acetobacterium woodii, and Eubacterium limosum were compared for phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and ATP-dependent phosphorylation of glucose and 2-deoxy-glucose. Rate of phosphorylation activity was measured in toluene-treated acetogenic cells using PEP and ATP and radiolabled glucose or 2-deoxy glucose. Eubacterium limosum, most likely has a glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS). In contrast, A. ruminis, and A. woodii had PEP-dependent glucose phosphorylation rates very similar to control rates, suggesting the lack of PTS activity. These results were confirmed by PEP dependent 2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation data. The rates of ATP-dependent glucose phosphorylation were higher than PEP-dependent glucose dependent in all organisms surveyed. Only E. limosum appeared to have PTS. The presence of PTS in E. limosum could explain why it is not capable of utilizing sugars and H(2)/CO(2) simultaneously and why acetogenesis is not as prominant in the rumen because of the availability of carbohydrates as alternative energy substrates.
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