An oxidative metabolic pathway of 4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronic acid (DEHU) from alginate in an alginate-assimilating bacterium

Abstract

Nishiyama et al. report the biochemical pathway for the conversion of DEHU to α-ketoglutarate in the alginate-assimilating marine bacterium Flavobacterium sp. strain UMI-01. They show that a parallel oxidative pathway besides the reductive route is possible, and provide evidence that this pathway might be conserved in other alginate-degrading bacteria.