Bacterial Metabolism

Metabolism

–Sum up all the chemical processes that

occur within a cell
1. Anabolism: Synthesis of more complex
compounds and use of energy
2. Catabolism: Break down a substrate and
capture energy
Overview of cell metabolism
Bacterial Metabolism

– Autotroph:

Photosynthetic bacterial
Chemoautotrophic bacteria
– Heterotroph:

Parasite
Saprophyte
 Energy Generating Patterns

– After Sugars are made or obtained, they are the energy source of life.
– Breakdown of sugar(catabolism) different ways:
•Aerobic respiration
•Anaerobic respiration
•Fermentation
Photosynthesis

(1) Higher plants

–Light reaction:
Photolysis of H2O produce ATP and NADPH
–Two photosystem (I & II)
Dark fixation: use the production from light reaction
(ATP and NADPH) to fix CO2
Reaction:
6CO2 + 6H2O -----> C6H12O6 +6O2
(Light and chloroplast)
Bacteria Photosynthesis

i. Only one photosystem can not do photolysis of H2O

ii. H2O not the source of electron donor
iii. O2 never formed as a product
iv. Bacterial chlorophyll absorb light at longer
W.L.
v. Similar CO2 fixation
vi. Only has cyclic photophosphorylation
 How the Bacteria synthesize NADPH
• Grow in the presence of the H2 gas
H2 + NADP+ -------------→ NADPH2
hydrogenase
• Reverse the electron flow in the e- transport chain
H2S S
S + NADP+--------→ SO4-2 + NADPH2
Succinate Fumarate
• Simple non-cyclic photosynthetic e- flow
 Photosynthetic bacteria
(1) Chlorobium-green sulfur bacteria
Use green pigment chlorophyll
Use H2S (hydrogen sulfide), S (sulfur), Na2S2O3 (sodium
thiosulfate) and H2 as e- donors.
(2) Chromatium-purple sulfur bacteria
Use purple carotenoid pigment, same e-donors
(3) Rhodospirillum-non sulfur purple bacteria
Use H2 and other organic compounds such as isopropanol etc,
as e-donors.

Reaction: CO2 + 2H2A -----> CH20 + H20 +2A

• A is not O
 Chemautotroph
– Some bacteria use O2 in the air to oxidize inorganic compounds and
produce ATP (energy). The energy is enough to convert CO2 into
organic material needed for cell growth.
– Examples:
Thiobacillus (sulfur S)
Nitorsomonas (ammonia)
Nitrobacter (nitrite)
– Various genera (hydrogen etc.)
 Aerobic respiration
– Most efficient way to extract energy from glucose.
– Process: Glycolysis
Kreb Cycle
Electron transport chain
– Glycolysis: Several glycolytic pathways
– The most common one:
glucose-----> pyruvic acid + 2 NADH + 2ATP
 Aerobic respiration
– Eukaryotes.
glucose -----> G-6-P----->F-6-P----->
…... 2 pyruvate +2ATP + 2NADH
– Prokaryotes.
glucose-----> G-6-P------>F-6-P
– Process take places during transport of the substrate. Phosphate is
from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)
.....-----> 2 pyruvate +2ATP + 2NADH
–Kreb cycle:
Pyruvate + 4NAD + FAD ----->
3CO2 +4NADH + FADH
GDP + Pi -----> GTP
GTP + ADP -----> ATP + GDP

–Electron trasnport Chain

4HADH -----> 12 ATP
FADH ------> 2 ATP Total 15 ATP
Glycolysis -----> 8 ATP

–Total equation:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 ------> 6CO2 + 6H2O + 38 ATP
 Anaerobic respiration
– Final electron acceptor : never be O2
▪Sulfate reducer: final electron acceptor is sodium
sulfate (Na2 SO4)
▪Methane reducer: final electron acceptor is CO2
▪Nitrate reducer : final electroon acceptor is sodium
nitrate (NaNO3)
O2/H2O coupling is the most oxidizing, more energy
in aerobic respiration.
Therefore, anaerobic is less energy efficient.
Microbial Metabolism

Metabolic Reactions
Enzymology
Catabolism
Phototrophy
Anabolism
Metabolism Overview:

Reduction;
e- gain from
donor

Oxidation;
e- loss to
acceptor
Metabolic Pathways
• Although we can recognize substrate and product of individual
enzymatic reactions; metabolic functions are often performed by
several enzymatic reactions in a series or “pathway”.

• Pathways can be linear, branched, cyclic or even spiral.

• Pathway activity is controlled in three ways:

• Metabolites and enzymes may be localized in different parts of the cell;
called metabolic channeling. (important in eukaryotes)

• The total amount of enzymes in a pathway can vary (gene expression).

• Pathway activity is controlled by critical regulated enzymes. These

“pacemaker enzymes” are often the rate-limiting step in the pathway.
 “Pacemaker” Enzyme Activity
• Enzyme activity may change due to inhibitor or activator molecules
called effectors.
• Inhibitors can be competitive (bind at substrate active site)
• Noncompetitive inhibitors and activators bind to allosteric
(regulatory) sites; separate from the active site; These effectors change
the shape of the protein and its activity as a catalyst.
Metabolic Pathway Control Strategies
Feedback Inhibition:
(“end-product inhibition”;
red)
• rate limiting enzyme is
first in pathway and is
allosteric.
• end-product is a negative
effector (inhibitor) of first
enzyme
Feed Forward Activation:
(“earlier-substrate activation”; +
blue)
• rate limiting enzyme of a
branch point is allosteric
• earlier-substrate is a positive
effector (activator) of a Arrows
forward reaction enzyme. =
 Reversible Metabolic Pathways
• Amphibolic Pathways:
• Catabolic direction
• Anabolic direction

• Separate regulatory enzymes each way

function as “check valves” for flow
control.

• Other pathway enzymes are reversible;

their equilibrium shifts based on
concentration of reactants & products.

• Gycolysis / Gluconeogenesis is a good

example. Catabolic breakdown of
glucose for energy versus the its anabolic
formation, respectively.
Glucose Catabolism (aerobic)
• ATP as the cellular energy
storage unit, can be formed
during respiration (R) or
fermentation (F).
• Both contain the Glycolysis
pathway; which produces ATP,
the electron carrier molecule
NADH, and pyruvate from
glucose.
• Aerobic Respiration will
proceed via Krebs Cycle and an
ETC if there is oxygen to react (anaerobic)
as a terminal electron acceptor.
• Fermentation
• Oxygen is not the only
possible terminal electron proceeds when
acceptor in some bacteria (e.g. there is no
NO3 or SO4 can be used); terminal
called Anaerobic Respiration. (ETC) electron
Products of Fermentation
Without any form of respiration, glycolysis products, pyruvate and NADH, will
accumulate. To keep making any more ATP by glycolysis, fermenting cells
must convert NADH (red.) back to NAD+ (ox.) by passing its electrons to
pyruvate. Reaction pathways that do this convert pyruvate to many other
compounds, depending on the organism.
 Glycolysis:

6C glucose goes to 2x 3C pyruvate plus 2 ATP net, and 2 NADH. ATP must first be
invested to then yield energy from oxidation and substrate level phosphorylation of
ATP.
Pyruvate Decarboxylation:
(Preparatory Step Before Kreb Cycle)
• Pyruvate loses a carbon in the form of CO2 ;
an electron is removed to convert NAD+ to
NADH, and coenzyme-A (CoA) binds to the
2C acetyl group.
• Acetyl CoA enters the Kreb Cycle by
binding with 4C oxaloacetate to form 6C
citric acid.

Krebs Cycle:
• The cycle converts a citric acid back to
oxaloacetate; losing 2 CO2 ; releasing
electrons to yield 3 NADH plus 1 FADH,
and one ATP by substrate level
phosphorylation.
• For one glucose the cycle runs twice.
Energy Perspective on the Electron
Transport Chain (ETC) Function
The ETC is a series of membrane bound
electron carriers that transports electrons from
high to low energy state, ending with oxygen
accepting electrons to water.
Energy release is first used to pump
protons (H+) across the membrane; a
proton motive force (PMF) then
drives ATP synthesis.
Each NADH will make
3 ATP. Each FADH will
make 2 ATP

Energy State
Each electron PMF= more protons
transport step on this side of
releases energy membrane.

FADH

Only 2
ATP per
FADH
Maximum yield
per glucose = 38
ATP
• Only achieved by
aerobic respiration of
mitochondria in
eukaryote cells.
• Aerobic respiration by
bacteria is less efficient
(< 24 ATP).
• Anaerobic respiration
is even less efficient.
• Fermentation least
efficient (2 ATP)
Hydrolysis of Major Biomolecules

Enyzymes of Hydrolysis:
• Proteins by proteases.
• Polysaccharide and other
carbohydrates by
glycosidase.
•Nucleic acids (DNA or
RNA) by nucleases.
• Lipids by lipases.
 Amphibolic Nature of Metabolism

Most catabolic
pathways have
anabolic
counterparts, so not
all compounds are
used to generate
Energy Source
Overview:

• In addition to
organisms feeding on
organic carbon for
energy
(chemoorganotrophs).
• There are
chemolithotrophs, which
gain energy from
reduced inorganic
compounds (litho =
rock).
• There are phototrophs