Regulation of carbamylphosphate synthesis in Serratia marcescens

Serratia marcescens HY possessed a single carbamylphosphate synthase (CPSase) which was subject to cumulative repression by arginine and a pyrimidine. CPSase did not appear to be a part of a multifunctional enzyme complex as is the case for other enzymes of pyrimidine biosynthesis in this organism. CPSase was purified to homogeneity. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 167,000 by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation. The double-reciprocal plot for magnesium adenosine triphosphate was linear, yielding a Km value of 2.5 mM. The enzyme utilized either glutamine (Km, 0.1 mM) or NH3 (Km, 10.5 mM) as a nitrogen donor in the reaction. CPSase activity was subject to activation by ornithine and feedback inhibition by uridine monophosphate, as is the case for other enteric bacteria. Carbamate kinase activity, detected in crude extracts of S. marcescens, was shown to be due to a constitutive acetate kinase. The absence of carbamate kinase from S. marcescens HY is consistent with the inability of this organism to utilize arginine as a source of energy under anaerobic conditions.