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C2 metabolism in Euglena

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Euglena: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 979))

Abstract

Euglenoids are able to assimilate fatty acids and alcohols with various carbon-chain lengths, and ethanol is known to be one of the best carbon sources to support the growth of Euglena gracilis. Ethanol is first oxidized to acetate by the sequential reactions of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the mitochondria, and then converted to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA). Acetyl-CoA is metabolized through the glyoxylate cycle which is a modified tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in which isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase (MS) function to bypass the two decarboxylation steps of the TCA cycle, enabling the net synthesis of carbohydrates from C2 compounds. ICL and MS form a unique bifunctional enzyme localized in Euglena mitochondria, not in glyoxysome as in other eukaryotes. The unique glyoxylate and glycolate metabolism during photorespiration is also discussed in this chapter.

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Abbreviations

ACS:

Acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase

ADH:

Alcohol dehydrogenase

ALDH:

Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase

CeGCE:

Caenorhabditis elegans bifunctional glyoxylate cycle enzyme

CoA:

Coenzyme A

EgGCE:

Euglena gracilis bifunctional glyoxylate cycle enzyme

FBPase:

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase

G6P:

Glucose-6-phosphate

GGT:

Glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase

ICL:

Isocitrate lyase

MDH:

Malate dehydrogenase

MS:

Malate synthase

PEPCK:

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase

PFK:

Phosphofructokinase

PPi:

Pyrophosphate

TCA:

Tricarboxylic acid

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Acknowledgement

The author thanks Dr. Hiroshi Inui and Dr. Akiho Yokota for their critical reading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka, Japan

    Masami Nakazawa

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  1. Masami Nakazawa
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Correspondence to Masami Nakazawa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Steven D. Schwartzbach

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University, Nara, Japan

    Shigeru Shigeoka

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Nakazawa, M. (2017). C2 metabolism in Euglena . In: Schwartzbach, S., Shigeoka, S. (eds) Euglena: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 979. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54910-1_3

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