Metabolism of 5-hydroxylysine in Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Hydroxylysine is metabolized via two routes by a Pseudomonas fluorescens strain as shown by the oxidation of selected intermediates. Hydroxy-L-lysine is oxidized via a pathway analogous to the monooxygenase pathway for L-lysine, and data suggest that at least some of tthe enzymes are those involved in the metabolism of L-lysine. Hydroxy-L-lysine is also converted by a racemase to allohydroxy-D-lysine, which is then degraded via a pathway analogous to, but different from, that described for D-lysine, involving hydroxy-L-pipecolate, 2-amino-5-hydroxyadipate, and 2-hydroxyglutarate. Data obtained with mutants unable to oxidize L-pipecolate suggest that the enzymes for the metabolism of hydroxy-L-pipecolate are distinct from those for L-pipecolate. Studies on D- and L-lysine degradation have shown that the previously described pathways for these compounds are present in this soil pseudomonad.

Transport of lysine and hydroxylysine in Streptococcus faecalis.

Data are presented which support the view that l-lysine is transported by two systems in Streptococcus faecalis. The system with the higher affinity for l-lysine appears to be specific for l-lysine among the common amino acids and to require an energy source. The second system transports both l-lysine and l-arginine and does not appear to require an energy source. Both of these systems will accept hydroxy-l-lysine as a substrate as shown by the energy requirement for hydroxy-l-lysine transport and by the inhibition of uptake by l-arginine as well as by l-lysine. The affinity of both systems appears to be considerably lower for hydroxy-l-lysine than for l-lysine. A mutant of S. faecalis which is resistant to the growth inhibitory action of hydroxy-l-lysine appears to differ from the parent strain by having a defective l-lysine-specific transport system. In this mutant, hydroxy-l-lysine is not readily transported via the l-lysine-specific system because of the mutation or via the second system because of the high concentration of l-arginine present in the growth medium. This overall lack of transport prevents hydroxy-l-lysine from reaching inhibitory levels within the cell.

Effect of hydroxylysine on the biosynthesis of lysine in Streptococcus faecalis.

We were able to show that two lysine-independent mutants of Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 8043 contained the enzymes for the usual bacterial pathway for lysine biosynthesis. Because of this synthetic capacity, one mutant, the Lys(+)OHLys(s) strain, could not grow in the presence of hydroxylysine without a lysine supplement. Both lysine and hydroxylysine inhibited the first enzyme of the pathway, aspartokinase. Unlike the Escherichia coli enzyme, S. faecalis dihydrodipicolinic acid synthetase was not inhibited by either lysine or hydroxylysine. Both amino acids caused the repression of dihydrodipicolinic acid synthetase and diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase. Failure of Lys(+)OHLys(s) strain to grow in hydroxylysine-supplemented medium was caused by the mimicking of lysine control by hydroxylysine. Because hydroxylysine could not completely substitute for lysine and lysine could not be synthesized, the organism did not grow. We tested three lysine analogues and found that they prevented lysine-depletion lysis in the Lsy(-)OHLys(s) strain, as did hydroxylysine. Each analogue seemed to support cell wall mucopeptide synthesis, although ornithine did not. Preliminary data indicated that these analogues like hydroxylysine, have growth-inhibitory action on the Lys(+)OHLys(s) strain, but not the Lys(+)OHLys(r) strain. The nature of the specificity of the lysine-adding enzyme for cell wall mucopeptide synthesis is discussed.