MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND METABOLISM (MIC 322)

May 18, 2023

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 Metabolism
• Microbiology Prescott 11th Edition

• Unless otherwise stated, the tables and figures are from the
Textbook.

• Chapter 12

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Precursor Metabolites
• Starting Molecules for Biosynthesis
– All other molecules in the cell arise from them
• Central Metabolic Pathways : what
metabolites are generated
• List the precursor metabolites
• How are they used in Biosynthesis

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 Precursor Metabolites
• Carbon
backbone/chains
• Used for the
synthesis of
monomers/buildi
ng blocks
• During
biosynthesis,
other functional
groups are added
to the carbon
chains e.g. amino

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Precursor Metabolites: How they
are used

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List the biosynthetic products derived from precursor
metabolites
1. Other carbohydrates 15. Nucleoside
2. Lipids 16. Phenylalanine
3. Pyrimidines 17. Tyrosine
4. Aspartate 18. Tryptophan
5. Asparagine 19. Serine
6. Threonine 20. Cysteine
7. Isoleucine 21. Glycine
8. Methionine 22.Purine (Histidine)
9. Lysine 23. Alanine
10. Porphyrins 24. Lysine
11. Glutamate 25. Isoleucine
12. Glutamine 26. Valine
13. Proline 27. Leucine
14. Arginine
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Key Points
1. All precursor
metabolites are
intermediates of
the glycolytic
pathways.
2. Most of the
precursor
metabolites are
used for
synthesis of
amino acids and
nucleotides.

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List the precursor metabolites
1. Glucose-6-phosphate
2. Ribose-5-phosphate
3. Erythrose-4-phosphate
4. Fructose-6-phosphate
5. Triose (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate)
6. 3-phosphoglycerate
7. Phosphoenol pyruvate
8. Pyruvate
9. Acetyl-CoA
10. α-Ketoglutarate
11. Succinyl-CoA
12. Oxaloacetate

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List the precursor metabolites
Read pages 233-238 for comprehensive details on the Central Metabolic
pathways:
1. Embden-Meyerhof Pathway
2. Pentose Phosphate Pathway
3. Tricarboxylic Acid

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Central metabolic pathways are important both
to heterotroph and autotrophs
• How do autotrophs generate precursor
metabolite from CO2
– First, CO2 is converted to reduced organic Carbon
– Reactions that are used to synthesize metabolic
pathways are reactions of the central metabolic
pathway operating amphibolically (Fig. 11.4)
• What happens to heterotrophs growing on
something other than glucose
– * Intermediate central metabolic pathway, make
other precursor metabolites
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 CO2 Fixation Pathways

• List the pathways used by microbes to fix CO2.

Six different pathways have been identified in
microbes.
– Eukaryotes
– Bacteria
– Archaea
• List the 3 phases of the Calvin Benson Cycle
• Identify the steps in the Calvin-Benson cycle that
consume ATP and NADPH
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 Autotrophs use CO2
• Reduction & fixing of CO2 requires energy
• What are the different types of autotrophs?
• Photoautotrophs: obtain energy by trapping
light during the Light Reaction Stage of
photosynthesis
• Chemolithotrophs: derive energy from
oxidation of inorganic donors
• Importance: fixation by autotrophs provides
organic matter for heterotrophs
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 CO2 Fixation Pathways

• Calvin Benson Cycle

• TCA Cycle

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Calvin Benson (Calvin) Cycle

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