On the occurrence of enoate reductase and 2-oxo-carboxylate reductase in clostridia and some observations on the amino acid fermentation by Peptostreptococcus anaerobius.

Enoate reductase present in Clostridium kluyveri and Clostridium spec. La 1 could be detected in three strains of C. tyrobutyricum and ten clostridia belonging to the groups of proteolytic and saccharolytic or proteolytic species, respectively. In C. pasteurianum, C. butyricum and C. propionicum enoate reductase could not be found even after growth on (E)-2-butenoate. A 2-oxo-carboxylate reductase was present in rather low activities in the non-proteolytic clostridia which produce enoate reductase. High activities (up to 10 U/mg protein) of 2-oxo-carboxylate reductase were found in six of ten proteolytic clostridia. The substrate specificities of the enoate reductase and the 2-oxo-carboxylate reductases from the proteolytic clostridia were determined with different alpha, beta-unsaturated carboxylates (enoates) and 2-oxo-carboxylates, respectively. Enoates as well as 2-oxo-carboxylates are intermediates of the pathway by which amino acids are degraded. An explanation is offered for the long known but not understood fact that in the Stickland reaction isoleucine always acts as an electron donor and leucine and phenylalanine can be electron acceptors as well as donors. Peptostreptococcus anaerobius converting some amino acids to the same products as C. sporogenes did this also with the intermediates which were found for the reductive deamination of amino acids in C. sporogenes, however, in crude extracts reduction of enoates occurred only in an activated form.