[Acetate metabolism in Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii growing in the dark]

When the cells of Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii assimilated 1- and 2-14C-acetate for a short period of time in the dark under aerobic conditions, the greatest amount of 14C was found after 5 sec in malate, succinate and aspartate. The content of 14C in these compounds decreased in due time, but increased in phosphoglyceric acid and in phosphoric esters of sugars, citrate, alanine and glutamate. The composition and kinetics of labeled products formed during the assimilation of 14C-acetate by the cells in the dark did not depend on the presence of thiosulfate. The cells of Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii grown in the dark, like those grown in the light, contained all enzymes of the citric acid cycle with an exception of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Moreover, they produced enzymes of the glyoxylate shunt, malate synthase and isocitrate lyase, whose activity was higher than that in cells grown in the light. The activity of ribulosediphosphate carboxylase in cells grown in the dark was much lower than in cells grown under phototrophic conditions in a medium with acetate. Cells grown either in the dark or in the light displayed also the activity of phosphopyruvate carboxylases (E.C. 4.1.1.3.1 and 4.1.1.38) and pyruvate carboxylase (E.C. 6.4.1.1). The results suggest that the utilization of acetate in the dark under aerobic conditions by the cells of E. shaposhnikovii is related to the operation of the glyoxylate cycle and the citric acid cycle.