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Biosynthesis of -Aminolevulinic Acid from Glutamate in Agmenellum quadruplicatum¹

Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

-Aminolevulinic acid accumulated in the culture medium when Agmenellum quadruplicatum strain PR-6 was incubated in the presence of levulinic acid, a competitive inhibitor of -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase, and specifically labeled glutamate and glycine. The -aminolevulinic acid was purified using Dowex 50W-X8 and cleaved by periodate to yield succinic acid and formaldehyde. The distribution of radioactivity in the two fragments suggested that in blue-green algae the carbon skeleton of -aminolevulinic acid is derived directly from glutamate. However the possibility of the pathway of -aminolevulinic acid synthesis, from glycine and succinyl-coenzyme A also functioning in blue-green algae was not eliminated as uptake of glycine was minimal.