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. 1974 Jan;117(1):175–180. doi: 10.1128/jb.117.1.175-180.1974

Tryptophan Biosynthesis from Indole-3-Acetic Acid by Anaerobic Bacteria from the Rumen

Milton J Allison 1, I M Robinson 1, A L Baetz 1
PMCID: PMC246540  PMID: 4855566

Abstract

Microbes in ruminal contents incorporated 14C into cells when they were incubated in vitro in the presence of [14C]carboxyl-labeled indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Most of the cellular 14C was found to be in tryptophan from the protein fractions of the cells. Pure cultures of several important ruminal species did not incorporate labeled IAA, but all four strains of Ruminococcus albus tested utilized IAA for tryptophan synthesis. R. albus did not incorporate 14C into tryptophan during growth in medium containing either labeled serine or labeled shikimic acid. The mechanism of tryptophan biosynthesis from IAA is not known but appears to be different from any described biosynthetic pathway. We propose that a reductive carboxylation, perhaps involving a low-potential electron donor such as ferredoxin, is involved.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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