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Utilization ofd-amino acids byFusobacterium nucleatum andFusobacterium varium

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Summary

The utilization ofd- andl -amino acids with acidic, basic or polar side chains was demonstrated by HPLC. Two species of the anaerobeFusobacterium utilized D-lysine and the L isomers of glutamate, glutamine, histidine, lysine and serine. OnlyF. varium usedl-arginine,d-glutamate andd-serine as substrates, whereasF. nucleatum specifically utilizedd-histidine andd-glutamine.d-Glutamate accumulated in F. nucleatum cultures supplemented withd-glutamine, and ornithine was detected when eitherdl- orl-arginine was included inF. varium cultures. Based on literature precedents,d-glutamate andd-histidine are isomerized to their L isomers prior to degradation, but separate catabolic pathways are possible for each enantiomer of lysine and serine.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, B3H 4J3, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    M. Ramezani, S. E. MacIntosh &  R. L. White

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  1. M. Ramezani
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  2. S. E. MacIntosh
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  3. R. L. White
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Ramezani, M., MacIntosh, S.E. & White, R.L. Utilization ofd-amino acids byFusobacterium nucleatum andFusobacterium varium . Amino Acids 17, 185–193 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01361881

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01361881

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