The comparative metabolism of the mollicutes (Mycoplasmas): the utility for taxonomic classification and the relationship of putative gene annotation and phylogeny to enzymatic function in the smallest free-living cells

Critical Reviews in Microbiology
J D PollackR N McElhaney

Abstract

Mollicutes or mycoplasmas are a class of wall-less bacteria descended from low G + C% Gram-positive bacteria. Some are exceedingly small, about 0.2 micron in diameter, and are examples of the smallest free-living cells known. Their genomes are equally small; the smallest in Mycoplasma genitalium is sequenced and is 0.58 mb with 475 ORFs, compared with 4.639 mb and 4288 ORFs for Escherichia coli. Because of their size and apparently limited metabolic potential, Mollicutes are models for describing the minimal metabolism necessary to sustain independent life. Mollicutes have no cytochromes or the TCA cycle except for malate dehydrogenase activity. Some uniquely require cholesterol for growth, some require urea and some are anaerobic. They fix CO2 in anaplerotic or replenishing reactions. Some require pyrophosphate not ATP as an energy source for reactions, including the rate-limiting step of glycolysis: 6-phosphofructokinase. They scavenge for nucleic acid precursors and apparently do not synthesize pyrimidines or purines de novo. Some genera uniquely lack dUTPase activity and some species also lack uracil-DNA glycosylase. The absence of the latter two reactions that limit the incorporation of uracil or remove it from DNA may be ...Continue Reading

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