Studies of polyamine metabolism in obligately alkalophilic Bacillus alcalophilus that grow at pH 11

Conference · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6178799

Cheng, S; Chen, K Y

Bacillus alcalophilus, an obligately alkalophilic bacterium, grow at pH 11 with an intracellular pH greater than 9.5. Polyamines are positively charged at physiological pH, but less than 50% of polyamines will be charged at pH 9.5 and above. In view of the importance of polycationic nature of polyamines in their physiological functions, it is of interest to study the polyamine metabolism in B. alcalophilus, an unusual organism that grow at very high pH. Spermidine is the major polyamine in this organism, accounts for more than 90% of total polyamine. The level of spermidine fluctuates between 10 to 30 nmol per mg protein during growth. In contrast, putrescine and spermine levels stay constant during entire period of growth. No ornithine decarboxylase (DC) activity can be detected in B. alcalophilus under all conditions examined. When (/sup 3/H)arginine was added to the bacterial culture, the distribution of radioactivity in polyamine pool was 3% for putrescine, 94% for spermidine, and 3% for spermine, suggesting the presence of arginine pathway for polyamine biosynthesis. B. alcalophilus appears to possess a polyamine transport system that is Na/sup +/-dependent. Putrescine uptake in B. alcalophilus is sensitive to the inhibition of gramicidine S (10 ..mu..M) and valinomycin (2..mu..M).

• Research Organization: Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ
• OSTI ID: 6178799
• Report Number(s): CONF-870644-
• Journal Information: Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States), Journal Name: Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States) Vol. 46:6; ISSN FEPRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550501* -- Metabolism-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AMINES
AMINO ACIDS
ARGININE
BACILLUS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
METABOLISM
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
SPERMIDINE
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS