Degradation of pyrimidine bases in Clostridium sticklandii.
Resting cells of Clostridium sticklandii took up thymine or uracil, when grown in a medium containing 40 mM serine and 20 mM thymine or uracil. The uptake was much lower, when the cells had been grown in a complex medium. Cell-free extracts from cells grown in the complex medium reduced the two bases to the dihydro compounds and decomposed dihydrothymine to beta-ureidoisobutyrate, as indicated by thin-layer chromatography. Uptake and degradation were stimulated by both NADH and NADPH. Further breakdown did not occur, as 14CO2 was not evolved from C-2-labelled thymine or uracil. The rates of pyrimidine uptake and breakdown of C. sticklandii were lower than those reported for C. sporogenes (Hilton et al., 1975).
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002474:Cell-Free System; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D003013:Clostridium / Q000378:metabolism*; D009243:NAD / Q000378:metabolism; D009249:NADP / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013941:Thymine / Q000378:metabolism*; D014498:Uracil / Q000378:metabolism*
D009243:NAD; D009249:NADP; D014498:Uracil; D013941:Thymine