title: Ethanolamine utilization in Vibrio alginolyticus.
abstract: Ethanolamine is used as an energy source by phylogenetically diverse bacteria including pathogens, by the concerted action of proteins from the eut-operon. Previous studies have revealed the presence of eutBC genes encoding ethanolamine-ammonia lyase, a key enzyme that breaks ethanolamine into acetaldehyde and ammonia, in about 100 bacterial genomes including members of gamma-proteobacteria. However, ethanolamine utilization has not been reported for any member of the Vibrio genus. Our comparative genomics study reveals the presence of genes that are involved in ethanolamine utilization in several Vibrio species. Using Vibrio alginolyticus as a model system we demonstrate that ethanolamine is better utilized as a nitrogen source than as a carbon source.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article was reviewed by Dr. Lakshminarayan Iyer and Dr. Vivek Anantharaman (nominated by Dr. L Aravind).
authors.affiliation: CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39A, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khatri
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khatri
authors.forename: Srikrishna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Saumya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raychaudhuri
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019856:Ethanolamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004981:Ethanolamine Ammonia-Lyase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D009876:Operon; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014733:Vibrio / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D044149:Vibrio alginolyticus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019856:Ethanolamine; D004981:Ethanolamine Ammonia-Lyase