Metabolism of 5'-methylthioadenosine in Aspergillus nidulans. An alternative pathway for methionine synthesis via utilization of the nucleoside methylthio group.

Experiments in which 5'-methylthioadenosine was used as a culture supplement for methionine-requiring mutants of Aspergillus nidulans with various enzymatic lesions indicated that the methylthio group derived from the nucleoside can be recycled to methionine. The results strongly suggest that methionine may be synthesized in the reaction catalyzed by homocysteine synthase (EC 4.2.99.10) in which O-acetylhomoserine is an acceptor of the methylthio group. The first step on the salvage pathway of the methylthio group is, in Aspergillus nidulans, phosphorolytic cleavage of 5'-methylthioadenosine to adenine and 5-methylthioribose 1-phosphate catalyzed by a specific phosphorylase.