The nucleotide sequence of the gene that encodes the fermentative, multifunctional alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in Alcaligenes eutrophus, and of adjacent regions on a 1.8-kilobase-pair PstI fragment was determined. From the deduced amino acid sequence, a molecular weight of 38,549 was calculated for the ADH subunit. The amino acid sequence reveals homologies from 22.3 to 26.3% with zinc-containi...

Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase was identified to be the only C3-carboxylating enzyme in Alcaligenes eutrophus. The enzyme requires GDP or inosine diphosphate (GTP or inosine triphosphate) for activity. Pyruvate- and other PEP-dependent CO2-fixing enzyme activities were not detected, regardless of whether the cells were grown autotrophically or heterotrophically. It is suggested that tw...

The L( +)-lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) of Alcaligenes eutrophus catalyzes the NADH-dependent reduction of pyruvate and a few other 2-oxoacids. The K,,, values for NADH, NAD, pyruvate and L( +)-lactate are 0.075 mM, 0.130 mM, 0.820 mM and 7.10 mM, respectively. The reaction follows a rapid equilibrium ordered bi-bi mechanism and involves the formation of a dead-end EBQ complex. The compet...

The nickel-dependent chemolithoautotrophic growth of Alcaligenes eutrophus is apparently due to a requirement of nickel for active hydrogenase formation. Cells grown heterotrophically with fructose and glycerol revealed a specific activity of soluble and membrane-bound hydrogenase which was severalfold higher than the normal autotrophic level. The omission of nickel from the medium did not affe...