In Streptococcus thermophilus, Ammonia from Urea Hydrolysis Paradoxically Boosts Acidification and Reveals a New Regulatory Mechanism of Glycolysis

Abstract

Finding that ammonia-generating enzymes, such as urease, and exogenous ammonia act on phosphofructokinase activity shed new light on the regulatory mechanisms that govern glycolysis. Phosphofructokinase is the key enzyme known to exert a regulatory role on glycolytic flux and, therefore, ammonia as an effector of phosphofructokinase acts, in cascade, modulating the glycolytic pathway.