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. 1973 Apr;114(1):42–52. doi: 10.1128/jb.114.1.42-52.1973

Pathway for Ubiquinone Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: Gene-Enzyme Relationships and Intermediates

I G Young 1, P Stroobant 1, C G Macdonald 1, F Gibson 1
PMCID: PMC251738  PMID: 4572721

Abstract

Seven ubiquinone-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli, each of which accumulates two phenolic precursors of ubiquinone, have been characterized, and the accumulated compounds have been identified. The mutants accumulate small quantities of 2-octaprenyl-6-methoxyphenol, which was isolated and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry, and relatively large amounts of 2-octaprenylphenol, a compound previously identified from E. coli. They also accumulate small quantities of a compound identified as 2-(hydroxyoctaprenyl)phenol although the relevance of this compound to the biosynthesis of ubiquinone is not clear. The results of genetic analysis suggest that each of the mutants carries a mutation in a gene (designated ubiH) which is located at about min 56 on the E. coli chromosome and is co-transducible with the serA and lysB genes. Based on information obtained from this and previous studies with ubiquinone-deficient mutants, a pathway is proposed for ubiquinone biosynthesis in E. coli, and a summary of the known gene-enzyme relationships is given.

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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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