Bacterial metabolism of arginine

Phosphorylation coupled with anaerobic breakdown of citrulline

“…The coupling between the breakdown of citrulline and the synthesis of ATP appears to be obligatory, because citrulline is not broken down in the absence of phosphate and ADP, although arsenate can replace both ADP and phosphate (Knivett, 1954 It has previously been shown (Knivett, 1952a, b; see also Slade, 1953, andKorzenovsky &Werkman, 1953) that arsenate increases the rate at which carbon dioxide is released from arginine and citrulline by enzyme preparations ofStreptococcusfaecali8. The present paper is a detailed study of the arsenate effect.…”

“…It has recently been demonstrated that preparations obtained from various micro-organisms are capable of converting citrulline into ornithine, ammonia and carbon dioxide. This reaction has been found in Streptococcus faecali treated with toluene (Akamatsu & Sekine, 1951), or acetone (Oginsky & Gehrig, 1952), in freeze-dried cells of Clostridium perfringens (Schmidt, Logan & Tytell, 1952) and cell-free extracts of Streptococcus lactis (Korzenovsky & Werkman, 1952). With regard to the mechanism of the reaction, it is relevant that washed suspensions of Strep.…”

Biological Transformations of Nitrogen Compounds

“…From this he concluded that a combination of arginase and urease activity was not responsible for the formation of ornithine in these organisms. Moreover, whereas the synthesis of arginine from citrulline in mammalian systems requires adenosine triphosphate (ATP), magnesium ion, and aspartate (65,66), dialyzed preparations from S. lactis are able to convert arginine to citrulline plus ammonia, presumably without ATP, magnesium ion, or aspartate (49).…”

The effect of arsenate on bacterial citrulline breakdown

“…It has previously been shown (Knivett, 1952a, b; see also Slade, 1953, andWerkman, 1953) that arsenate increases the rate at which carbon dioxide is released from arginine and citrulline by enzyme preparations ofStreptococcusfaecali8. The present paper is a detailed study of the arsenate effect.…”