Fatty acid synthesis by enzyme preparations of Clostridium kluyveri; a consideration of postulated 4-carbon intermediates in butyrate synthesis.

Reaction 1 was observed in cell-free enzyme preparations of C. kluyveri (21), but the participation of the remaining reactions is supported only by indirect evidence obtained from studies on other bacteria (2). Koepsell et al. (12) demonstrated the formation of butyryl phosphate from acetyl phosphate and butyrate by cell-free extracts of Clostridium butylicum; and Lipmann (13, 14) demonstrated the reversible transfer of phosphoryl groups between acetyl phosphate and the adenylic acid system by enzyme preparations of C. butylicum and La&bacillus delbrueckii, and further, postulated that the transfer of the phosphoryl group between acetyl phosphate and butyrate is mediated by adenosine pyrophosphate. In order to obtain a clearer insight into the mechanisms of fatty acid synthesis we have investigated the occurrence of Reactions 2, 3, and 4 and also several other reactions of acyl phosphates in enzyme preparations of C. lcluyveri.