Pentose utilization by the ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus albus

Abstract

Ruminococcus albus is an important fibrolytic ruminal bacteria which degrades hemicellulose and ferments the resulting pentose sugars. However, little information is available on the utilization of pentoses by this organism or the effect of hexose sugars on pentose metabolism. Enzymatic studies indicated that R. albus metabolized pentoses via the pentose phosphate pathway and possessed constitutive transketolase activity. Cellobiose was preferred over xylose and arabinose, and it appeared that the disaccharide decreased pentose metabolism by repression of transport activity and catabolic enzymes (isomerases and kinases). Glucose and xylose were co-utilized, and transport studies suggested that there was a common transport system for both sugars. In contrast, glucose was preferred over arabinose and the hexose noncompetitively inhibited the transport of arabinose. Since R. albus lacks a glucose phosphotransferase system, the inhibition of arabinose uptake could not be explained by previously described models of inducer exclusion involving such a system. Because accumulation of radiolabeled xylose, arabinose, and glucose proceeded in the absence of a proton motive force and since transport was correlated with the intracellular ATP concentration, it appeared that monosaccharide uptake was driven by ATP hydrolysis.