8.5 Catabolism of lipids and proteins  (Page 2/6)

Other types of lipids can also be degraded by certain microbes. For example, the ability of certain pathogens, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis , to degrade cholesterol contributes to their virulence. The side chains of cholesterol can be easily removed enzymatically, but degradation of the remaining fused rings is more problematic. The four fused rings are sequentially broken in a multistep process facilitated by specific enzymes, and the resulting products, including pyruvate, can be further catabolized in the Krebs cycle.

Protein catabolism

Proteins are degraded through the concerted action of a variety of microbial protease enzymes. Extracellular proteases cut proteins internally at specific amino acid sequences, breaking them down into smaller peptides that can then be taken up by cells. Some clinically important pathogens can be identified by their ability to produce a specific type of extracellular protease. For example, the production of the extracellular protease gelatinase by members of the genera Proteus and Serratia can be used to distinguish them from other gram-negative enteric bacteria. Following inoculation and growth of microbes in gelatin broth, degradation of the gelatin protein due to gelatinase production prevents solidification of gelatin when refrigerated. Other pathogens can be distinguished by their ability to degrade casein, the main protein found in milk. When grown on skim milk agar, production of the extracellular protease caseinase causes degradation of casein, which appears as a zone of clearing around the microbial growth. Caseinase production by the opportunist pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be used to distinguish it from other related gram-negative bacteria.

After extracellular protease degradation and uptake of peptides in the cell, the peptides can then be broken down further into individual amino acids by additional intracellular proteases, and each amino acid can be enzymatically deaminated to remove the amino group. The remaining molecules can then enter the transition reaction or the Krebs cycle.

Key concepts and summary

• Collectively, microbes have the ability to degrade a wide variety of carbon sources besides carbohydrates, including lipids and proteins. The catabolic pathways for all of these molecules eventually connect into glycolysis and the Krebs cycle.
• Several types of lipids can be microbially degraded. Triglycerides are degraded by extracellular lipases , releasing fatty acids from the glycerol backbone. Phospholipids are degraded by phospholipases , releasing fatty acids and the phosphorylated head group from the glycerol backbone. Lipases and phospholipases act as virulence factors for certain pathogenic microbes.
• Fatty acids can be further degraded inside the cell through β-oxidation , which sequentially removes two-carbon acetyl groups from the ends of fatty acid chains.
• Protein degradation involves extracellular proteases that degrade large proteins into smaller peptides. Detection of the extracellular proteases gelatinase and caseinase can be used to differentiate clinically relevant bacteria.

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