The degradation of the pentoses d-xylose, l-arabinose and d-ribose in the domain of archaea, in Haloferax volcanii and in Haloarcula and Sulfolobus species, has been shown to proceed via oxidative… Click to show full abstract
The degradation of the pentoses d-xylose, l-arabinose and d-ribose in the domain of archaea, in Haloferax volcanii and in Haloarcula and Sulfolobus species, has been shown to proceed via oxidative pathways to generate α-ketoglutarate. Here, we report that the haloarchaeal Halorhabdus species utilize the bacterial-type non-oxidative degradation pathways for pentoses generating xylulose-5-phosphate. The genes of these pathways are each clustered and were constitutively expressed. Selected enzymes involved in d-xylose degradation, xylose isomerase and xylulokinase, and those involved in l-arabinose degradation, arabinose isomerase and ribulokinase, were characterized. Further, d-ribose degradation in Halorhabdus species involves ribokinase, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase and d-ribulose-5-phosphate-3-epimerase. Ribokinase of Halorhabdus tiamatea and ribose-5-phosphate isomerase of Halorhabdus utahensis were characterized. This is the first report of pentose degradation via the bacterial-type pathways in archaea, in Halorhabdus species that likely acquired these pathways from bacteria. The utilization of bacterial-type pathways of pentose degradation rather than the archaeal oxidative pathways generating α-ketoglutarate might be explained by an incomplete gluconeogenesis in Halorhabdus species preventing the utilization of α-ketoglutarate in the anabolism.
               
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