Assimilation of homotaurine-nitrogen by Burkholderia sp. and excretion of sulfopropanoate.

Jutta Mayer, Karin Denger, Katrin Kaspar, Klaus Hollemeyer, Theo H M Smits, Thomas Huhn, Alasdair M Cook

Index: FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 279(1) , 77-82, (2008)

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Abstract

Homotaurine (3-aminopropanesulfonate), free or derivatized, is in widespread pharmaceutical and laboratory use. Studies with enrichment cultures indicated that the compound is degradable as a sole source of carbon or as a sole source of nitrogen for bacterial growth. A pure culture of Burkholderia sp. was isolated which assimilated the amino group from homotaurine in a glucose-salts medium, and which released an organosulfonate, 3-sulfopropanoate, into the medium stoichiometrically. The deamination involved an inducible 2-oxoglutarate-dependent aminotransferase to yield glutamate, and 3-sulfopropanal. Release of the amino group was attributed to the measured NADP-coupled glutamate dehydrogenase.