Re: How many amino acids can a bacterium metabolize at one time?

Hi,

I have looked for a specific answer but unfortunately I have only general information for you. However, I have some references that may help you in finding more specific answers.

In general bacteria have rather elegant control over their metabolic activities so that they will only metabolise what is needed and metabolism of compounds that will produce the maximum energy return will generally be metabolised first. The state of sulfur and nitrogen levels in a cell will also affect metabolism of amino acids. For instance low levels of sulfur may result in selective metabolism of sulfer-containing amino acids such as cysteine. It should be noted that not all bacteria have the capability to metabolise most amino acids. Bacteria like Pseudomonads have a large metabolic diversity and can metabolise many amino acids. Another group of bacteria that have extensive proteolytic activity are the lactic acid bacteria. It may be useful to limit your searches on amino acid metabolism to these bacteria. To get you started I have listed a couple of references below that may give you a good start.

Christensen, JE, Dudley EG, Pederson JA, Steele JL. 1999. Peptidases and 
amino acid catabolism in lactic acid bacteria. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 76: 
217-46

For general info on bacterial metabolism a good textbook to find in your 
library is: Bacterial Metabolism by Gottschalk, Springer Publishing.

Chris