Microbiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Microbiology 155 (2009), 3166-3175; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.030858-0IMMEDIATE OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE
This Article
Free via Open Access: OA
Right arrow OA Free Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
mic.0.030858-0v1
155/10/3166    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dunn, M. F.
Right arrow Articles by Hernández-Lucas, I.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dunn, M. F.
Right arrow Articles by Hernández-Lucas, I.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Dunn, M. F.
Right arrow Articles by Hernández-Lucas, I.
Microbiology 155 (2009), 3166-3175; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.030858-0
© 2009 Society for General Microbiology

Major roles of isocitrate lyase and malate synthase in bacterial and fungal pathogenesis

M. F. Dunn1,{dagger}, J. A. Ramírez-Trujillo1,{dagger} and I. Hernández-Lucas2

1 Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico
2 Departamento de Microbiología Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico

The glyoxylate cycle is an anaplerotic pathway of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that allows growth on C2 compounds by bypassing the CO2-generating steps of the TCA cycle. The unique enzymes of this route are isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase (MS). ICL cleaves isocitrate to glyoxylate and succinate, and MS converts glyoxylate and acetyl-CoA to malate. The end products of the bypass can be used for gluconeogenesis and other biosynthetic processes. The glyoxylate cycle occurs in Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea. Recent studies of ICL- and MS-deficient strains as well as proteomic and transcriptional analyses show that these enzymes are often important in human, animal and plant pathogenesis. These studies have extended our understanding of the metabolic pathways essential for the survival of pathogens inside the host and provide a more complete picture of the physiology of pathogenic micro-organisms. Hopefully, the recent knowledge generated about the role of the glyoxylate cycle in virulence can be used for the development of new vaccines, or specific inhibitors to combat bacterial and fungal diseases.

Correspondence
I. Hernández-Lucas
ismaelh{at}ibt.unam.mx

{dagger}These authors contributed equally to this work.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2009 Society for General Microbiology.