Biosynthesis of Ergothioneine from Endogenous Hercynine in Mycobacterium smegmatis
Open accessAbstract
Ergothioneine was synthesized and accumulated in growing cultures of Mycobacterium smegmatis when the medium was adequately supplied with sulfur. In a low sulfur medium, the accumulation was sharply limited although growth of the organism was apparently normal. Synthesis of hercynine, the precursor of ergothioneine, was unaffected by low sulfur levels and was markedly increased by addition of l -histidine, the precursor of hercynine. Resting-cell pellicle experiments, performed with cells grown on the low sulfur high histidine medium, showed that ergothioniene was synthesized from endogenous hercynine, when cysteine or compounds readily converted to cysteine (such as cystine, lanthionine, cystathionine, and thiazolidine carboxylic acid) were added. Homocysteine and djenkolic acid allowed for minimal synthesis of betaine, whereas methionine, S -methylcysteine, sodium sulfate, and sodium thiosulfate were unable to donate sulfur for ergothioniene synthesis under the experimental conditions employed. Addition of cysteine to a resting pellicle preparation caused the formation of 100 to 200 μg of ergothioneine per g of dry cells in 2.5 to 3 hr. A modified procedure for isolating ergothioneine and hercynine, employing a 75% ethyl alcohol extraction of wet organisms, followed by a single alumina column separation of the compounds, is described.
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ERG is synthesised by a variety of microbes, especially fungi and actinobacteria.
“The chief organisms capable of its synthesis are fungi and certain yeasts(59,60), though actinobacteria and certain other micro-organisms(60–66), including the slime mould Physarum polycephalum (65), cyanobacteria(67–71) and methylotrophs(72) are also naturally capable of its production.”
From The biology of ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical (2020) · cites this paper as [64]
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Analysis Of Ergothioneine Production In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Guidry, L. (2012)
- Authors
- Genghof, D. S., & Van Damme, O.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York, New York 10461
- Venue
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 1968-02
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 340-344
- ISSN
- 0021-9193 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5530
- PMC
- PMC252023
- OpenAlex
- W1510799602
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Bacteriology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Sulfur Compounds in Biology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Keywords
- ergothioneine biosynthesis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, sulfur metabolism, cysteine, histidine, sulfur donors, betaine
- MeSH terms
- Betaine, Chromatography, Chromatography, Paper, Culture Media, Cysteine, Ergothioneine, Histidine, Mycobacterium, Sulfur
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