The isolation and identification of 6-hydroxycyclohepta-1,4-dione as a novel intermediate in the bacterial degradation of atropine.

B A Bartholomew, M J Smith, M T Long, P J Darcy, P W Trudgill, D J Hopper

Index: Biochem. J. 293 ( Pt 1) , 115-8, (1993)

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Abstract

Growth of Pseudomonas AT3 on the alkaloid atropine as its sole source of carbon and nitrogen is nitrogen-limited and proceeds by degradation of the tropic acid part of the molecule, with the metabolism of the tropine being limited to the point of release of its nitrogen. A nitrogen-free compound accumulated in the growth medium and was isolated and identified as 6-hydroxycyclohepta-1,4-dione. This novel compound is proposed as an intermediate in tropine metabolism. It served as a growth substrate for the organism and was also the substrate for an NAD(+)-linked dehydrogenase present in cell extracts. The enzyme was induced during the tropine phase of diauxic growth on atropine or during growth on tropine alone.