Hydrocarbon Metabolism by 'Brevibacterium erythrogenes': Normal and Branched Alkanes.

Branched and straight chain hydrocarbons are metabolized by Brevibacterium erythrogenes by means of two distinct pathways. Normal alkanes are degraded, after terminal oxidation, by the beta-oxidation system operational in fatty acid catabolism. Branched alkanes like pristane and 2-methylundecane are degraded as dicarboxylic acids, which also undergo beta-oxidation. Pristane-derived intermediates are observed to accumulate, with time, as a series of dicarboxylic acid pathway is not observed in the presence of normal alkanes. Release of (14)CO2 from 1-(14)C-pristane is delayed, or entirely inhibited, in the presence of n-hexadecane, while CO2 release from n-hexadecane remains unaffected. These results suggest an inducible dicarboxylic acid pathway for degradation of branched chain alkanes. (Author)