title: Utilization of D-amino acids by Fusobacterium nucleatum and Fusobacterium varium.
abstract: The utilization of D- and L-amino acids with acidic, basic or polar side chains was demonstrated by HPLC. Two species of the anaerobe Fusobacterium utilized D-lysine and the L isomers of glutamate, glutamine, histidine, lysine and serine. Only F. varium used L-arginine, D-glutamate and D-serine as substrates, whereas F. nucleatum specifically utilized D-histidine and D-glutamine. D-Glutamate accumulated in F. nucleatum cultures supplemented with D-glutamine, and ornithine was detected when either DL- or L-arginine was included in F. varium cultures. Based on literature precedents, D-glutamate and D-histidine are isomerized to their L isomers prior to degradation, but separate catabolic pathways are possible for each enantiomer of lysine and serine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramezani
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: MacIntosh
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005673:Fusobacterium / Q000378:metabolism*; D016967:Fusobacterium nucleatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids