Novel pathway for degradation of protocatechuic acid in Bacillus species

A species of Bacillus, tentatively identified as B. circulans, degrades protocatechuic acid by a novel reaction involving meta-fission between C2 and C3 of the benzene nucleus. 2-Hydroxymuconic semialdehyde is then degraded to pyruvate and acetaldehyde by enzymatic reactions described in previous work. Protocatechuate 2,3-oxygenase exhibits a rather narrow substrate specificity; the methyl and ethyl esters of protocatechuic acid are oxidized, but other substrates for ring-fission oxygenases, notably catechol, gallic acid, and homoprotocatechuic acid, are not attached.