Alanine, biosynthesis pyruvate from

L Glutamic acid is not an essential ammo acid It need not be present m the diet because animals can biosynthesize it from sources of a ketoglutaric acid It is however a key intermediate m the biosynthesis of other ammo acids by a process known as transamination L Alanine for example is formed from pyruvic acid by transamination from L glutamic acid... 

Muscle activity involves processes such as aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis and is therefore accompanied by an increased pyruvate production. Consequently, the pyruvate transamination product alanine will be increased after exercise. Heavy exercise may be associated with an increased need of creatine biosynthesis from arginine. Ornithine is a by-product of this pathway and may be increased under these conditions. 

A small number of other biosynthetic pathways, which are used by both photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic organisms, are indicated in Fig. 10-1. For example, pyruvate is converted readily to the amino acid t-alanine and oxaloacetate to L-aspartic acid the latter, in turn, may be utilized in the biosynthesis of pyrimidines. Other amino acids, purines, and additional compounds needed for construction of cells are formed in pathways, most of which branch from some compound shown in Fig. 10-1 or from a point on one of the pathways shown in the figure. In virtually every instance biosynthesis is dependent upon a supply of energy furnished by the cleavage to ATP. In many cases it also requires one of the hydrogen carriers in a reduced form. While Fig. 10-1 outlines in briefest form a minute fraction of the metabolic pathways known, the ones shown are of central importance. 

Now let us consider the further conversion of PEP and of the triose phosphates to glucose 1-phosphate, the key intermediate in biosynthesis of other sugars and polysaccharides. The conversion of PEP to glucose 1-P represents a reversal of part of the glycolysis sequence. It is convenient to discuss this along with gluconeogenesis, the reversal of the complete glycolysis sequence from lactic acid. This is an essential part of the Cori cycle (Section F) in our own bodies, and the same process may be used to convert pyruvate derived from deamination of alanine or serine (Chapter 24) into carbohydrates. 

The nonessential amino acids are synthesized by quite simple reactions, whereas the pathways for the formation of the essential amino acids are quite complex. For example, the nonessential amino acids alanine and aspartate are synthesized in a single step from pyruvate and oxaloacetate, respectively. In contrast, the pathways for the essential amino acids require from 5 to 16 steps (Figure 24.8). The sole exception to this pattern is arginine, inasmuch as the synthesis of this nonessential amino acid de novo requires 10 steps. Typically, though, it is made in only 3 steps from ornithine as part of the urea cycle. Tyrosine, classified as a nonessential amino acid because it can be synthesized in 1 step from phenylalanine, requires 10 steps to be synthesized from scratch and is essential if phenylalanine is not abundant. We begin with the biosynthesis of nonessential amino acids. 

The present studies confirm the earlier studies indicating the relatively great biosynthetic abilities of the methane bacteria and suggest that much of the cellular carbon compounds are probably synthesized from acetate and carbon dioxide. In view of the carbon dioxide and acetate requirements and the reductive carboxylation reactions shown to be involved in isoleucine synthesis in M. ruminantium (26) and the probability of similar carboxylation reactions in biosynthesis of isoleucine, alanine, and other amino acids in MOH, suggested by the studies on M. omelianskii (34), the operation of the pyruvate synthase reaction and some other reactions of the reductive carboxylic acid cycle (35, 36) as major pathways of biosynthesis of cellular materials in these bacteria is an attractive hypothesis. 

Transamination Biosynthesis of i-Alanine from L-Glutamic Acid and Pyruvic Acid THE OVERALL REACTION ... 

Pyruvic acid is important as an intermediate in sugar metabolism. This acid is formed as the final product of the glycolytic pathway from 3-phosphoglycerate via phosphoenolpyruvate. Pyruvic acid is also formed through the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle. The degradation of glucose in the cycle yields the C3 product glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, which can be oxidized to pyruvate. Pyruvic acid is the principal precursor for the biosynthesis of amino acids such as alanine, as well as leucine and valine. 

The amino acids derived from pyruvate or 3-phosphogIycerate include alanine, serine, and glycine. Synthesis of these amino acids can be achieved by multiple pathways involving several different subcellular compartments. Although enzymes that could contribute to their biosynthesis are easily demonstrable in plants (Miflin and Lea, 1982), the relative contribution of each potential pathway may vary from species to species, and within a single organism in different tissues or under different physiological conditions. 

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