INITIAL STEPS IN THE ANAEROBIC DEGRADATION OF 3,4,5-TRIHYDROXYBENZOATE BY EUBACTERIUM-OXIDOREDUCENS - CHARACTERIZATION OF MUTANTS AND ROLE OF 1,2,3,5-TETRAHYDROXYBENZENE

Chemical mutagenesis and antibiotic enrichment techniques were used to isolate five mutant strains of the obligate anaerobe Eubacterium oxidoreducens that were unable to grow on 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate (gallate). Two strains could not transform gallate and showed no detectable gallate decarboxylase activity. Two other strains transformed gallate to pyrogallol and dihydrophloroglucinol but lacked the hydrolase activity responsible for ring cleavage. A fifth strain accumulated pyrogallol, although it contained adequate levels of the enzymes proposed for the complete transformation of gallate to the ring cleavage product. The conversion of pyrogallol to phloroglucinol by cell extract of the wild-type strain was dependent on the addition of 1,2,3,5-tetrahydroxybenzene or dimethyl sulfoxide. This activity was induced by growth on gallate, while the other enzymes involved in the initial reactions of gallate catabolism were constitutively expressed during growth on crotonate. The results confirm the initial steps in the pathway previously proposed for the metabolism of gallate by E. oxidoreducens, except for the conversion of pyrogallol to phloroglucinol.