title: Sugar metabolism by Brucellae.
abstract: The metabolic capabilities of the species of Brucella were originally of interest as a means of distinguishing them from each other and from other genera. Certain unusual characteristics, especially erythritol utilization, were studied in the hopes they would shed light on the pathogenicity. With the advent of modern genetic methods and genomic sequencing, it is now possible to get a good idea of the total capabilities of the organism and to do tests to confirm these deductions. Brucella appears to be a fairly normal member of the alpha-proteobacteria, but with some differences. A few questions remain, such as whether Brucella uses the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Some of the genes in carbohydrate utilization have been shown to be important in virulence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 246 Noble Research Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. ressenberg@biochem.okstate.edu
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Essenberg
authors.forename: Rekha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seshadri
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Paulsen
mesh_terms: D002002:Brucella / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004896:Erythritol / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005941:Glucokinase / Q000235:genetics; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D005941:Glucokinase; D004896:Erythritol