Bacterial Metabolism

I am particularly indebted to Joan Macy, Lynne Quandt, Jan Andreesen and Peter Hillmer for reading the manuscript, for their criticisms and their suggestions, and I thank Ute Gnass for typing the manuscript and for her invaluable help with the indexing and with the preparation of the figures. Finally, I am grateful to the publishers for their patience, willing help, and cooperation. G6ttingen, 1978 GERHARD GOTTSCHALK Contents CHAPTER I Nutrition of Bacteria I. Major and Minor Bioelements I II. The Two Basic Mechanisms of ATP Synthesis 4 III. Nutrients as Energy Sources 6 IV. Growth Factor Requirements of Bacteria 9 V. Summary 10 CHAPTER 2 How Escherichia coli Synthesizes ATP during Aerobic Growth on Glucose I. Transport of D-Glucose into the E. coli Cell 13 II. Degradation of Glucose-6-Phosphate to Pyruvate via the Embden-Meyerhof- Parnas (EMP) Pathway 15 III. Oxidative Decarboxylation of Pyruvate to Acetyl-Coenzyme A 18 IV. Oxidation of Acetyl-CoA via the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle 20 V. The Formation of ATP in the Respiratory Chain 22 VI. Summary 35 CHAPTER 3 Biosynthesis of Escherichia coli Cells from Glucose I. Composition of E. coli Cells 38 II. Assimilation of Ammonia 40 Ill. Assimilatory Reduction of Sulfate 42 IV. Biosynthesis of Amino Acids 43 V. How Pentose Phosphates and NADPH are Formed 55 xii Contents VI. Ribonucleotides and Deoxyribonucleotides 59 VII. Biosynthesis of Lipids 65 VIII. Formation of Carbohydrates 71 IX. Synthesis of Polymers 73 X. The Requirement for an Anaplerotic Sequence 92 XI.