Metabolism of Valine by the Filamentous Fungus Arthrobotrys conoides

Abstract

Uptake of valine by Arthrobotrys conoides was an active process and was independent of its incorporation into cellular protein. Chemical fractionation of cells supplied with 14 C- l -valine for different time intervals revealed that the amino acid initially entered a pool of metabolic intermediates and was extractable with cold trichloroacetic acid. After a 4-min interval, some intracellular valine was incorporated into cell proteins, but most underwent metabolic transformation to a variety of products that included carboxylic acids and other amino acids. Carbon derived from valine was not localized in the lipid or nucleic acid fraction of cells, but some was completely oxidized and recovered as metabolic 14 CO 2 . Autoradiograms of paper and thin-layer chromatograms of acid hydrolysates of cellular protein identified the following amino acids as having originated from valine: glutamate, aspartate, alanine, and leucine. Similar analysis of cold trichloroacetic acid extracts established that 14 C supplied as l -valine had been transformed also to α-ketoisovalerate, isobutyrate, propionate, succinate, malate, oxalacetate, pyruvate, and α-ketoglutarate. Pathways for transformation of the carbon skeleton of valine to various metabolic products are proposed.