Conserved pathway for homarine catabolism in environmental bacteria.

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Auteurs principaux: Ferrer-González, Frank X, Heal, Katherine R, Sacks, Joshua S, Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet, Finch, Anna H, Carlson, Laura T, Coe, Lisa S Y, Bartolek, Zinka, Luthy, Claudia B, Gaffney, Moira P, Angier, Sabine K, Flynn, Samantha E, Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I, Dunn, Jensen M L, Bay, Kenzie J, Yamamoto, Lia A, Tien, Matthew Z, Armbrust, E Virginia, Durham, Bryndan P, Sosa, Oscar A, Ingalls, Anitra E
Format: Artículo científico
Langue:en
Publié: Nature microbiology 2026
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author Ferrer-González, Frank X
Heal, Katherine R
Sacks, Joshua S
Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet
Finch, Anna H
Carlson, Laura T
Coe, Lisa S Y
Bartolek, Zinka
Luthy, Claudia B
Gaffney, Moira P
Angier, Sabine K
Flynn, Samantha E
Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I
Dunn, Jensen M L
Bay, Kenzie J
Yamamoto, Lia A
Tien, Matthew Z
Armbrust, E Virginia
Durham, Bryndan P
Sosa, Oscar A
Ingalls, Anitra E
author_facet Ferrer-González, Frank X
Heal, Katherine R
Sacks, Joshua S
Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet
Finch, Anna H
Carlson, Laura T
Coe, Lisa S Y
Bartolek, Zinka
Luthy, Claudia B
Gaffney, Moira P
Angier, Sabine K
Flynn, Samantha E
Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I
Dunn, Jensen M L
Bay, Kenzie J
Yamamoto, Lia A
Tien, Matthew Z
Armbrust, E Virginia
Durham, Bryndan P
Sosa, Oscar A
Ingalls, Anitra E
Ferrer-González, Frank X
Heal, Katherine R
Sacks, Joshua S
Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet
Finch, Anna H
Carlson, Laura T
Coe, Lisa S Y
Bartolek, Zinka
Luthy, Claudia B
Gaffney, Moira P
Angier, Sabine K
Flynn, Samantha E
Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I
Dunn, Jensen M L
Bay, Kenzie J
Yamamoto, Lia A
Tien, Matthew Z
Armbrust, E Virginia
Durham, Bryndan P
Sosa, Oscar A
Ingalls, Anitra E
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Conserved pathway for homarine catabolism in environmental bacteria. Ferrer-González, Frank X Heal, Katherine R Sacks, Joshua S Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet Finch, Anna H Carlson, Laura T Coe, Lisa S Y Bartolek, Zinka Luthy, Claudia B Gaffney, Moira P Angier, Sabine K Flynn, Samantha E Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I Dunn, Jensen M L Bay, Kenzie J Yamamoto, Lia A Tien, Matthew Z Armbrust, E Virginia Durham, Bryndan P Sosa, Oscar A Ingalls, Anitra E Phylogeny Operon Metabolic Networks and Pathways Gene Expression Profiling Gene Knockout Techniques Bacteria Glutamic Acid Homarine (N-methylpicolinic acid) is a ubiquitous marine metabolite produced by phytoplankton and noted for its infochemical properties among marine animals, yet its microbial degradation pathways are uncharacterized. Here we identify a conserved operon (homABCDER) that mediates homarine catabolism in bacteria using comparative transcriptomics, mutagenesis and targeted knockouts. Phylogenetic and genomic analyses show that this operon is distributed across abundant bacterial clades, including coastal copiotrophs (for example, Rhodobacterales) and open-ocean oligotrophs (for example, SAR11, SAR116), and in genomes from non-marine environments. High-resolution mass spectrometry revealed N-methylglutamic acid and glutamic acid as key metabolic products of homarine in both model and natural systems, with N-methyl-glutamate dehydrogenase catalysing their conversion. Metatranscriptomics showed responsive and in situ expression of hom genes aligned with homarine availability. These findings uncover the genetic and metabolic basis of homarine degradation, establish its ecological relevance and highlight homarine as a versatile growth substrate that feeds into central metabolism via glutamic acid in diverse marine bacteria.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_41912647
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2026
publisher Nature microbiology
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Conserved pathway for homarine catabolism in environmental bacteria.
Ferrer-González, Frank X
Heal, Katherine R
Sacks, Joshua S
Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet
Finch, Anna H
Carlson, Laura T
Coe, Lisa S Y
Bartolek, Zinka
Luthy, Claudia B
Gaffney, Moira P
Angier, Sabine K
Flynn, Samantha E
Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I
Dunn, Jensen M L
Bay, Kenzie J
Yamamoto, Lia A
Tien, Matthew Z
Armbrust, E Virginia
Durham, Bryndan P
Sosa, Oscar A
Ingalls, Anitra E
Phylogeny
Operon
Metabolic Networks and Pathways
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Knockout Techniques
Bacteria
Glutamic Acid
Conserved pathway for homarine catabolism in environmental bacteria. Ferrer-González, Frank X Heal, Katherine R Sacks, Joshua S Romero-Maysonet, Yarinet Finch, Anna H Carlson, Laura T Coe, Lisa S Y Bartolek, Zinka Luthy, Claudia B Gaffney, Moira P Angier, Sabine K Flynn, Samantha E Bachmann Gómez, Chiara I Dunn, Jensen M L Bay, Kenzie J Yamamoto, Lia A Tien, Matthew Z Armbrust, E Virginia Durham, Bryndan P Sosa, Oscar A Ingalls, Anitra E Phylogeny Operon Metabolic Networks and Pathways Gene Expression Profiling Gene Knockout Techniques Bacteria Glutamic Acid Homarine (N-methylpicolinic acid) is a ubiquitous marine metabolite produced by phytoplankton and noted for its infochemical properties among marine animals, yet its microbial degradation pathways are uncharacterized. Here we identify a conserved operon (homABCDER) that mediates homarine catabolism in bacteria using comparative transcriptomics, mutagenesis and targeted knockouts. Phylogenetic and genomic analyses show that this operon is distributed across abundant bacterial clades, including coastal copiotrophs (for example, Rhodobacterales) and open-ocean oligotrophs (for example, SAR11, SAR116), and in genomes from non-marine environments. High-resolution mass spectrometry revealed N-methylglutamic acid and glutamic acid as key metabolic products of homarine in both model and natural systems, with N-methyl-glutamate dehydrogenase catalysing their conversion. Metatranscriptomics showed responsive and in situ expression of hom genes aligned with homarine availability. These findings uncover the genetic and metabolic basis of homarine degradation, establish its ecological relevance and highlight homarine as a versatile growth substrate that feeds into central metabolism via glutamic acid in diverse marine bacteria.
title Conserved pathway for homarine catabolism in environmental bacteria.
topic Phylogeny
Operon
Metabolic Networks and Pathways
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Knockout Techniques
Bacteria
Glutamic Acid
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41912647/