Anaerobic metabolism dihydroxyacetone

Figure 17.12 Anaerobic metabolic pathways involved in SA production in the metabol-ically engineered Escherichia coli KJ134 strain. SA yield was increased by eliminating side-products in coli C. X indicates knocked-out gene. G-3-P, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate DHAP, dihydroxyacetone-phosphate PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate OAA, oxaloacetate MAE, malate FUM, fumarate a-KG, a-ketoglutarate ICT, isocitrate CIT, citrate PYR, pyruvate AcCoA, acetyl-CoA IdhA,...

The study of these metabolic steps is quite active at the present time. As noted above, Dickens found that ribose-5-phosphate was fermented anaerobically to ethanol, a 2-carbon compound, inorganic phosphate, and CO2. Racker observed that extracts of E. colt converted ribose-5-phosphate to a triose phosphate, which could be analyzed in the presence of triose phosphate isomerase as dihydroxyacetone phosphate.Therefore, the products of the oxidative pathway eventually join the Embden-Meyerhof scheme at the triose phosphate stage, the major difference being the formation of 2 moles of triose phosphate in the latter pathway and only 1 mole via the phosphogluconate pathway. 

Streekstra H, Teixera de Mattos MJ, Neijssel OM, Tempest DW (1987) Overflow metabolism during anaerobic growth of Klebsiella aerogenes NCTC 418 on glycerol and dihydroxyacetone in chemostat culture. Arch Microbiol... 

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