METABOLIC ACTIVITY IN COXIELLA BURNETII

Ormsbee, Richard A. (Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Hamilton, Mont.), and Marius G. Peacock. Metabolic activity in Coxiella burnetii. J. Bacteriol. 88:1205-1210. 1964.-Purified suspensions of Coxiella burnetii were shown to utilize alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate, oxaloacetate, pyruvate, glutamate, and serine. The addition of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(+) was necessary to elicit the maximal rate of oxygen uptake with l-glutamate as substrate, but was unnecessary when other substrates were employed. It was concluded that the Krebs cycle of intermediary carbohydrate metabolism probably operates within C. burnetii, and that pyruvate is the chief energy source.

THE EFFECTS OF ADENINE NUCLEOTIDES ON PYRUVATE METABOLISM IN RAT LIVER

1. The effects of adenine nucleotides on pyruvate metabolism by isolated liver cells and isolated mitochondria have been investigated. The amount of pyruvate carboxylated has been estimated by determining the tricarboxylic acid-cycle intermediates, glutamate and aspartate accumulating in the incubation medium. The extent of pyruvate oxidation has been assessed by measuring oxygen uptake and the yield of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]pyruvate and [2-(14)C]pyruvate. 2. When catalytic amounts of adenine nucleotides (1-2mm) were added to suspensions of isolated liver cells incubated with pyruvate an ATP:ADP ratio greater than 6:1 was maintained. Both pyruvate oxidation to acetyl-CoA and the oxidation of acetyl-CoA through the tricarboxylic acid cycle were stimulated but pyruvate carboxylation was not affected. The production of acetyl-CoA exceeded the capacity of the cells for the oxidation of acetyl-CoA and the excess was converted into ketone bodies. 3. If a low ATP:ADP ratio was maintained in isolated cells or mitochondria by incubating them with dinitrophenol or hexokinase, pyruvate carboxylation was grossly inhibited, oxygen uptake depressed and ketone-body formation stimulated. Measurement of oxaloacetate concentrations confirmed that under these conditions oxaloacetate was rate-limiting for the oxidation of acetyl-CoA via the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The inclusion in the incubation medium of fumarate (1.25mm) completely prevented the ketogenic action of dinitrophenol or hexokinase. 4. When ADP (5mm) was added to a suspension of isolated liver cells incubated with pyruvate an actual ADP concentration of about 1mm was attained. This brought about effects on pyruvate metabolism similar to those obtained with dinitrophenol or hexokinase. 5. These results support the concept that the relative concentrations of adenine nucleotides within the liver cell may play a role in governing the rates of pyruvate oxidation and carboxylation. In addition, they provide further evidence that the availability of oxaloacetate in the liver cell can play a key role in determining whether acetyl-CoA arising from pyruvate is oxidized through the tricarboxylic acid cycle or converted into ketone bodies.

THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE REACTION CATALYSED BY CITRATE OXALOACETATE-LYASE

1. A method of preparation and purification of citrate oxaloacetate-lyase (EC 4.1.3.6) from Aerobacter aerogenes is described. 2. The equilibrium of this reaction has been determined at pH 8.4 and 25 degrees . It has been shown that K, i.e. [citrate(3-)]/[oxaloacetate(keto) (2-)][acetate (-)], is 3.08+/-0.72, but that K(app.), i.e. [total citrate]/[total oxaloacetate][total acetate], is markedly affected by the initial concentrations of the reactants and magnesium. 3. The free-energy change during the cleavage of citrate has been calculated and compared with data from other sources. 4. The free energy of hydrolysis of acetyl-CoA has been evaluated from the present data. 5. A detailed knowledge of the interactions of the reactants with metal ions has been shown to be important in the calculation of the equilibrium constant and related thermodynamic functions.

CONTROL OF GLUTAMATE OXIDATION IN BRAIN AND LIVER MITOCHONDRIAL SYSTEMS

1. Glutamate oxidation in brain and liver mitochondrial systems proceeds mainly through transamination with oxaloacetate followed by oxidation of the alpha-oxoglutarate formed. Both in the presence and absence of dinitrophenol in liver mitochondria this pathway accounted for almost 80% of the uptake of glutamate. In brain preparations the transamination pathway accounted for about 90% of the glutamate uptake. 2. The oxidation of [1-(14)C]- and [5-(14)C]-glutamate in brain preparations is compatible with utilization through the tricarboxylic acid cycle, either after the formation of alpha-oxoglutarate or after decarboxylation to form gamma-aminobutyrate. There is no indication of gamma-decarboxylation of glutamate. 3. The high respiratory control ratio obtained with glutamate as substrate in brain mitochondrial preparations is due to the low respiration rate in the absence of ADP: this results from the low rate of formation of oxaloacetate under these conditions. When oxaloacetate is made available by the addition of malate or of NAD(+), the respiration rate is increased to the level obtained with other substrates. 4. When the transamination pathway of glutamate oxidation was blocked with malonate, the uptake of glutamate was inhibited in the presence of ADP or ADP plus dinitrophenol by about 70 and 80% respectively in brain mitochondrial systems, whereas the inhibition was only about 50% in dinitrophenol-stimulated liver preparations. In unstimulated liver mitochondria in the presence of malonate there was a sixfold increase in the oxidation of glutamate by the glutamate-dehydrogenase pathway. Thus the operating activity of glutamate dehydrogenase is much less than the ;free' (non-latent) activity. 5. The following explanation is put forward for the control of glutamate metabolism in liver and brain mitochondrial preparations. The oxidation of glutamate by either pathway yields alpha-oxoglutarate, which is further metabolized. Since aspartate aminotransferase is present in great excess compared with the respiration rate, the oxaloacetate formed is continuously removed by the transamination reaction. Thus alpha-oxoglutarate is formed independently of glutamate dehydrogenation, and the question is how the dehydrogenation of glutamate is influenced by the continuous formation of alpha-oxoglutarate. The results indicate that a competition takes place between the alpha-oxoglutarate-dehydrogenase complex and glutamate dehydrogenase, probably for NAD(+), resulting in preferential oxidation of alpha-oxoglutarate.

THE OXIDATION OF GLUTAMATE BY RAT-LIVER MITOCHONDRIA

1. In rat-liver mitochondria both the dehydrogenase and transaminase routes participate in glutamate oxidation. However, the rate of ammonia production by the dehydrogenase pathway progressively decreases with the time of incubation. 2. Glutamate deamination is stimulated by blocking the transaminase pathway with arsenite or malonate. On the other hand, this process is completely suppressed by succinate, malate, pyruvate and oxaloacetate. Succinate and pyruvate inhibit, whereas malate and oxaloacetate stimulate, aspartate formation. 3. Glutamate deamination increases with increasing concentrations of 2,4-dinitrophenol from 0.05 to 0.2mm, and then becomes inhibited, together with the rate of oxygen consumption. Aspartate formation is progressively inhibited with increasing 2,4-dinitrophenol concentration from 0.05 to 0.8mm. In the presence of 0.20mm-2,4-dinitrophenol the rate of ammonia production is higher than in the presence of phosphate acceptors and decreases much slower and linearly with the time of incubation. 4. The addition of NAD(+) enhances glutamate deamination without affecting oxygen uptake.

METABOLISM OF PROPIONATE BY SHEEP LIVER. INTERRELATIONS OF PROPIONATE AND GLUTAMATE IN AGED MITOCHONDRIA

1. Low concentrations of l-glutamate were slowly and quantitatively converted into aspartate by aged sheep-liver mitochondria with the loss of C-1 of the glutamate. 2. When propionate was present in addition the rate of conversion of glutamate into aspartate was increased slightly, and the presence of glutamate caused a marked stimulation in the rate at which propionate was metabolized. 3. The stimulatory effect of ;sparker' amounts of l-glutamate on propionate metabolism was matched by the effects of alpha-oxoglutarate, pyruvate, citrate and isocitrate, but not by succinate, fumarate, malate or oxaloacetate. Succinate was stimulatory at higher concentrations, whereas oxaloacetate was inhibitory. 4. When propionate was incubated with l-[1-(14)C]glutamate in the presence of a large excess of unlabelled carbon dioxide, some labelling of dicarboxylic acids and aspartate occurred, but this was much less than would have been expected from an obligatory transcarboxylation from C-1 of alpha-oxoglutarate to propionyl-CoA. 5. Possible mechanisms of these effects are discussed.