Regiospecific enzymatic oxygenation of cis-vaccenic acid during aerobic senescence of the halophilic purple sulfur bacterium Thiohalocapsa halophila

Regiospecific enzymatic oxygenation of cis-vaccenic acid in the marine phototrophic bacterium Erythrobacter sp. strain MG3

The fatty acid composition of the marine phototrophic bacterium Erythrobacter sp. strain MG3 was analysed. The involvement of an unusual enzymatic peroxidation of the allylic carbon 10 of cis-vaccenic acid in this strain was confirmed. This process, which seems to be a characteristic of some aerobic and anaerobic phototrophic bacteria, appeared to also act on the allylic carbon 10 of octadeca-5,11-dienoic acid. Enzymatic degradation of 10-hydroperoxyoctadec-11(cis)-enoic acid resulting from the peroxidation of cis-vaccenic acid mainly involves reduction to the corresponding hydroxy acid (probably catalysed by peroxygenases) and cleavage to the corresponding oxoacid, which is then biohydrogenated. Abiotic degradation of this hydroperoxide involves allylic rearrangement to 10-hydroperoxyoctadec-11(trans)-enoic and 12-hydroperoxyoctadec-10(trans)-enoic acids and cyclisation to the very unusual 7,10-epoxyoctadec-11(cis)-enoic acid. Several tests carried out at different periods of growth and under different growth conditions allowed to show that the induction of this enzymatic peroxidation process strongly depends on the physiological state of the cells and is enhanced during C-limitation and at low temperatures.

GC-MS structural characterization of fatty acids from marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria

The FA composition of 12 strains of marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria belonging to the genera Erythrobacter, Roseobacter, and Citromicrobium was investigated. GC-MS analyses of different types of derivatives were performed to determine the structures of the main FA present in these organisms. All the analyzed strains contained the relatively rare 11-methyloctadec-12-enoic acid, and three contained 12-methyl-octadec-11-enoic acid, which has apparently never been reported before. High amounts of the very unusual octadeca-5,11-dienoic acid were present in 9 of the 12 strains analyzed. A FA containing a furan ring was detected in three strains. Analytical data indicated that this FA was 10,13-epoxy-11-methyloctadeca-10,12-dienoic acid. A very interesting enzymatic peroxidation of the allylic carbon 10 of cis-vaccenic acid was observed in three strains. Deuterium labeling and GC-MS analyses enabled us to demonstrate that this enzymatic process involves the initial dioxygenase-mediated formation of 10-hydroperoxyoctadec-11(cis)-enoic acid, which is then isomerized to 10-hydroperoxyoctadec-11(trans)-enoic acid and converted to the corresponding hydroxyacids and oxoacids. Different biosynthetic pathways were proposed for these different compounds.