Aminotransferase pathway

GS in plants is the key enzyme of the GS/GOGAT (glutamine synthetase/g1utamine 2-oxyg1utarate aminotransferase) pathway and thus plays a crucial role in ammonia assimilation/reassimilation (117. 118). GS inhibition by phosphinothricin causes accumulation of toxic levels of ammonia. Since ammonia production is increased by photorespiration and conversion of nitrite to ammonia (also light-dependent), nitrogen fertilizers and light act to promote phosphinothricin efficacy (119). 

Two pathways, the aminotransferase pathway and the putrescine utilization pathway (the Puu pathway) (see Fig. 4.1), are responsible for the cataboUsm of putrescine to yield nitrogen and carbon sources for growth. 

In P. aeruginosa PAOl, the first enzyme of the aminotransferase pathway was reported as putrescine-pyruvate aminotransferase, which generates y-aminobutyraldehyde and L-alanine (Lu et al. 2002 Chou et al. 2013). 

In nature, aminotransferases participate in a number of metabolic pathways [4[. They catalyze the transfer of an amino group originating from an amino acid donor to a 2-ketoacid acceptor by a simple mechanism. First, an amino group from the donor is transferred to the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate with formation of a 2-keto add and an enzyme-bound pyridoxamine phosphate intermediate. Second, this intermediate transfers the amino group to the 2-keto add acceptor. The readion is reversible, shows ping-pong kinetics, and has been used industrially in the production ofamino acids [69]. It can be driven in one direction by the appropriate choice of conditions (e.g. substrate concentration). Some of the aminotransferases accept simple amines instead of amino acids as amine donors, and highly enantioselective cases have been reported [70]. 

Figure 1. Schematic outline of various products and associated enzymes from the shikimate and phenolic pathways in plants (and some microorganisms). Enzymes (1) 3-deoxy-2-oxo-D-arabino-heptulosate-7-phosphate synthase (2) 5-dehydroquinate synthase (3) shikimate dehydrogenase (4) shikimate kinase (5) 5-enol-pyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (6) chorismate synthase (7) chorismate mutase (8) prephenate dehydrogenase (9) tyrosine aminotransferase (10) prephenate dehydratase (11) phenylalanine aminotransferase (12) anthranilate synthase (13) tryptophan synthase (14) phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (15) tyrosine ammonia-lyase and (16) polyphenol oxidase. (From ACS Symposium Series No. 181, 1982) (62).

The malate-aspartate shuttle is the most important pathway for transferring reducing equivalents from the cytosol to the mitochondria in brain. This shuttle involves both the cytosolic and mitochondrial forms of aspartate aminotransferase and malate dehydrogenase, the mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate carrier and the dicarboxylic acid carrier in brain (Fig. 31-5) [69]. The electrogenic exchange of aspartate for glutamate and a... 

Transamination reactions can also occur within, rather than at the beginning of, the pathway of catabolism, so that the substrate for the aminotransferase is a partially... 

Figure B2(i) The pathway for conversion of proline and alanine in the flight muscle of the tsetse fly the major ATP-generating pathway. Alanine aminotransferase is essential for the proline oxidation pathway in order for glutamate to enter the Krebs cycle as oxoglutarate and pyruvate to be converted to alanine, the end of the pathway. It is assumed that the pathway is the same for the Colorado beetle, but no studies have been reported.

Figure 9.4 Reactions of glutaminolysis the pathway for glutamine oxidation. Reaction 1 is catalysed by glutaminase, reaction 2 by glutamate aminotransferase, and reaction 8 by aspartate aminotransferase all other enzymes are those of the Krebs cycle (3-7). (See also Chapter 8).

Formation of the Initial Cyclitol. The first steps of FOR production are the same as in the biosynthesis of STR in short, the first step in FOR biosynthesis is postulated to be the formation of a myo-inositol monophosphate (D-myo-inositol-3-phosphate or L-myo-inositol-1-phosphate) via the cellular l-myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase as in the STR pathway (Ca pathway see Section 2.2.1.2). As in the itr-Att-clusters, no gene for this enzyme has been found in the/or-cluster. As a second step in FOR biosynthesis the dephosphorylation of D-myo-inositol-3-phosphate via an inositolmonophosphate phosphatase has to follow. A putative gene product with this activity is that of the ForA protein (cf. Tables 2.17 and 2.18). The cyclitol is postulated to be first converted via two enzymes, a cluster-encoded myo-inositol 3-dehydrogenase (ForG member of the GFO/IDH/MocA oxidoreductase family) and the L-glutamine icy//o-3-inosose 3-aminotransferase (ketocyclitol aminotransferase I ForS), to icy//o-inosamine (3-deoxy-3-amino- cy/to-mositol). 

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