Macromolecular metabolosome formation associated with 12-propanediol utilisation

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Propanediol is produced as a result of the fermentation of several plant sugars and it is found in quite high concentrations in the intestine. A number of enteric bacteria, such as Salmonella enterica, have the ability to utlise propanediol as a carbon source. However, what is remarkable about this metabolism is that these bacteria actually make their own proteinaceous organelle, or microcompartment, to house this metabolic activity. The proteinaceous organelle is called a metabolsome and its formation is associated with about twenty proteins, some of which form the shell of the capsid, some of which are associated with the metabolic enzymes and some of which are associated with transport, scaffolding and regulation. The genes for propanediol utilisation are contiguous and coregulated with the cobalamin biosynthetic genes, indicating that propanediol catabolism is the primary reason for de novo B12 synthesis in many bacteria. In this application we wish to study the form and function of the propanediol metabolosome by initiating research into the organelle at the molecular level. The aim of this application is to investigate the propanediol metabolosome. We plan to study the role played by the twenty or so proteins in the metabolic process, including their function and localisation. Moreover, we will investigate the metabolic advantage of the metabolosome over the production of individual enzymes. Finally, we will explore structural aspects of the metabolosome including the ability to transport elements into and out of the macromolecular complex