HEMIN BIOSYNTHESIS IN HAEMOPHILUS

Abstract

White, David C. (The Rockefeller Institute, New York, N.Y.) and S. Granick. Hemin biosynthesis in Haemophilus. J. Bacteriol. 85:842-850. 1963.-Hemin-independent Haemophilus species have been shown to form hemin by the classical hemin biosynthetic pathway. Three distinct species of Haemophilus [H. influenzae, H. aegyptius, and H. canis (H. haemoglobinophilus)] all lost the enzymatic capacities to convert delta-aminolevulinic acid to protoporphyrin, which accounts for their dependence on hemin for growth. The strain of H. aegyptus tested cannot form hemin from protoporphyrin, can be transformed with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from H. influenzae, and the resultant progeny have the enzymatic activity to convert protoporphyrin to hemin. Attempts to transform these species to hemin independence with DNA from hemin-independent H. parainfluenzae are unsuccessful under conditions where streptomycin resistance is readily transformed.