Microbial Biochemistry: Second Edition

Microbial physiology, biochemistry, and genetics allowed the formulation of concepts that turned out to be important in the study of higher organisms. In the first section, the principles of bacterial growth are given, as well as the description of the different layers that enclose the bacterial cytoplasm, and their role in obtaining nutrients from the outside media through different permeability mechanism described in detail. A chapter is devoted to allostery and is indispensable for the comprehension of many regulatory mechanisms described throughout the book. Another section analyses the mechanisms by which cells obtain the energy necessary for their growth, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the tricarboxylic and the anaplerotic cycles. Two chapters are devoted to classes of microorganisms rarely dealt with in textbooks, namely the Archaea, mainly the methanogenic bacteria, and the methylotrophs. Eight chapters describe the principles of the regulations at the transcriptional level, with the necessary knowledge of the machineries of transcription and translation. The next fifteen chapters deal with the biosynthesis of the cell building blocks, amino acids, purine and pyrimidine nucleotides and deoxynucleotides, water-soluble vitamins and coenzymes, isoprene and tetrapyrrole derivatives and vitamin B12. The two last chapters are devoted to the study of protein-DNA interactions and to the evolution of biosynthetic pathways. The considerable advances made in the last thirty years in the field by the introduction of gene cloning and sequencing and by the exponential development of physical methods such as X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance have helped presenting metabolism under a multidisciplinary attractive angle. The level of readership presupposes some knowledge of chemistry and genetics at the undergraduate level. The target group is graduate students, researchers in academia and industry. Front Matter....Pages i-xxviii Bacterial Growth....Pages 1-10 The Outer Membrane of Gram-negative Bacteria and the Cytoplasmic Membrane....Pages 11-16 Peptidoglycan Synthesis and Cell Division....Pages 17-22 Cellular Permeability....Pages 23-49 Allosteric Enzymes....Pages 51-62 Glycolysis, Gluconeogenesis and Glycogen Synthesis....Pages 63-72 The Pentose Phosphate and Entner–Doudoroff Pathways....Pages 73-77 The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle and the Glyoxylate Bypass....Pages 79-99 ATP-Generating Processes: Respiration and Fermentation....Pages 101-113 Biosynthesis of Lipids....Pages 115-125 Iron–Sulfur Proteins....Pages 127-132 The Archaea....Pages 133-137 Methanogens and Methylotrophs....Pages 139-161 Enzyme Induction in Catabolic Systems....Pages 163-177 Transcription: RNA Polymerase....Pages 179-187 Negative Regulation....Pages 189-200 Enzyme Repression in Anabolic Pathways....Pages 201-207 Positive Regulation....Pages 209-215 The Ribosomes....Pages 217-222 The Genetic Code, the Transfer RNAs and the Aminoacyl-tRNA-Synthetases....Pages 223-231 Attenuation....Pages 233-239 Riboswitches....Pages 241-244 The Biological Fixation of Nitrogen....Pages 245-250 How Biosynthetic Pathways have been Established....Pages 251-256 The Aspartic Acid Family of Amino Acids: Biosynthesis....Pages 257-274 Regulation of the Biosynthesis of the Amino Acids of the Aspartic Acid Family in Enterobacteriaceae ....Pages 275-306 Other Patterns of Regulation of the Synthesis of Amino Acids of the Aspartate Family....Pages 307-315 Biosynthesis of the Amino Acids of the Glutamic Acid Family and Its Regulation....Pages 317-346 Biosynthesis of Amino Acids Derived from Phosphoglyceric Acid and Pyruvic Acid....Pages 347-361 Selenocysteine and Selenoproteins....Pages 363-371 Biosynthesis of Aromatic Amino Acids and Its Regulation....Pages 373-398 The Biosynthesis of Histidine and Its Regulation....Pages 399-408 The Biosynthesis of Nucleotides....Pages 409-430 The Biosynthesis of Deoxyribonucleotides....Pages 431-442 Biosynthesis of Some Water-Soluble Vitamins and of Their Coenzyme Forms....Pages 443-470 Biosynthesis of Carotene, Vitamin A, Sterols, Ubiquinones and Menaquinones....Pages 471-485 Biosynthesis of the Tetrapyrrole Ring System....Pages 487-501 Biosynthesis of Cobalamins Including Vitamin B 12 ....Pages 503-511 Interactions Between Proteins and DNA....Pages 513-524 Evolution of Biosynthetic Pathways....Pages 525-544 Back Matter....Pages 545-557