Amino acid utilization by the ruminal bacterium Synergistes jonesii strain 78-1

The ruminal bacterium Synergistes jonesii strain 78-1, which is able to degrade the pyridinediol toxin in the plant Leucaena leucocephala, was studied for its ability to utilise amino acids. The organism used arginine, histidine and glycine from a complex mixture of amino acids, and both arginine and histidine supported growth in a semi-defined medium. The products of (U-14C)-arginine metabolism were CO2 acetate, butyrate, citrulline and ornithine. The labelling pattern of end products from (U-14C)-histidine metabolism differed in that carbon also flowed into formate and propionate. Arginine was catabolised by the arginine deiminase pathway which was characterised by the presence of arginine deiminase, ornithine transcarbamylase and carbamate kinase. This is the first report of a rumen bacterium that uses arginine and histidine as major energy yielding substrates.