Metabolism of methylated purines in Escherichia coli: derepression of purine biosynthesis.

Love, Samuel H. (Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest College, Winston-Salem, N.C.), and Charles N. Remy. Metabolism of methylated purines in Escherichia coli: derepression of purine biosynthesis. J. Bacteriol. 91:1037-1049. 1966.-Various methylated purines were examined for their effects on growth of purine-requiring mutants of Escherichia coli, strains W-11 and B-96, and for their effects on purine biosynthesis. 6-Methylaminopurine and 6-methoxypurine stimulated the accumulation of purine precursor derivatives (ribosyl-5-aminoimidazole and ribosyl-5-amino-4-imidazole carboxamide) beyond their ability to support growth. Information obtained from in vivo and in vitro systems demonstrated that the metabolism of 6-methylaminopurine and 6-methoxypurine utilized identical pathways. The riboside derivatives are formed either by direct ribosidation via nucleoside phosphorylase or, indirectly, by dephosphorylation of the 5'-phosphoribosyl derivatives which are synthesized via adenylate pyrophosphorylase. Information obtained with the aid of strain W-11/DAP (lacking adenylate pyrophosphorylase) demonstrated that both pathways were important to the growing cells. Regardless of the metabolic pathway by which they are synthesized, the ribosyl derivatives are demethylaminated (demethylated) by adenosine deaminase to yield inosine. The final conversion of inosine to inosinic acid via the intermediate formation of hypoxanthine accounts for the net conversion of the methylated bases to inosinic acid. The utilization of the bases is sufficiently rate-limiting to cause derepression of the early enzymes required for the de novo synthesis of purine, thus accounting for the elevated accumulation of purine precursors originally observed.