title: Transport and Catabolism of Carbohydrates by Neisseria meningitidis.
abstract: We identified the genes encoding the proteins for the transport of glucose and maltose in Neisseria meningitidis strain 2C4-3. A mutant deleted for NMV_1892(glcP) no longer grew on glucose and deletion of NMV_0424(malY) prevented the utilization of maltose. We also purified and characterized glucokinase and α-phosphoglucomutase, which catalyze early catabolic steps of the two carbohydrates. N. meningitidis catabolizes the two carbohydrates either via the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway or the pentose phosphate pathway, thereby forming glyceraldehyde-3-P and either pyruvate or fructose-6-P, respectively. We purified and characterized several key enzymes of the two pathways. The genes required for the transformation of glucose into gluconate-6-P and its further catabolism via the ED pathway are organized in two adjacent operons. N. meningitidis also contains genes encoding proteins which exhibit similarity to the gluconate transporter (NMV_2230) and gluconate kinase (NMV_2231) of Enterobacteriaceae and Firmicutes. However, gluconate might not be the real substrate of NMV_2230 because N. meningitidis was not able to grow on gluconate as the sole carbon source. Surprisingly, deletion of NMV_2230 stimulated growth in minimal medium in the presence and absence of glucose and drastically slowed the clearance of N. meningitidis cells from transgenic mice after intraperitoneal challenge.
authors.affiliation: Micalis Institute, INRA, AgroParisTech, Universitx00E9; Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Meriem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Derkaoui
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.forename: Jamila
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nait Abdallah
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poncet
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazé
authors.forename: Que Mai
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Ma Pham
authors.forename: Abdelhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mokhtari
authors.forename: Ala-Eddine
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Deghmane
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Joyet
authors.forename: Muhamed-Kheir
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deutscher
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D008320:Maltose / Q000378:metabolism*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009876:Operon
chemical_list: D008320:Maltose; D005947:Glucose