Oxaloacetic acid decarboxylase activity

Pathways 8-10 are all thermodynamically favorable and produce 1 mol of ATP. Malonyl-CoA and malonic-semialdehyde can be derived from oxaloacetate by employing novel enzymes, with CoA-dependent oxaloacetate dehydrogenase and 2-keto acid decarboxylase activity, respectively. Malate can be converted to 3-HP using a novel enzyme with malate decarboxylase activity (Figure 14.4). These enzymes do not exist in nature and, because of this, it has been proposed that malate decarboxylase activity can be created by enzyme engineering in order to increase their specificity toward oxaloacetate and ability to produce the metabolic intermediates [33]. 

It was reported (14) that the adaptive enzyme from Lactobacillus plantarum could decarboxylate oxaloacetic acid as well as malic acid. However, in the same organism, Nathan (30) carried this work further and showed that the oxaloacetate decarboxylase activity is not related at all to the malic acid-lactic acid transformation activity. She based this conclusion on the ability of malic and oxaloacetic acids to induce oxaloacetate decarboxylase activity as well as malic enzyme activity. In her words,... 

Iversen T-G, Standal R, Pederson T, Caucheron DH (1994) IS 1032 from Acetobacter xylinunty a new mobile insertion sequence. Plasmid 32 46-54 Jabalquinto AM, Laivenieks M, Zeikus JG, Cardemil E (1999) Characterization of the oxaloacetate decarboxylase and pyruvate kinase-like activities of Saccha-romyces cerevisiae and Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens phospho-enolpyruvate carboxykinases. J Prot Chem 18 659-664 Jarvis L (2001) Lactic acid outlook up as polylactide nears market Chem Mark Repor 259(9) 5,14... 

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