Bacterial Degradation of 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid and Homoprotocatechuic Acid

A species of Acinetobacter and two strains of Pseudomonas putida when grown with 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid gave cell extracts that converted 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (homoprotocatechuic acid) into carbon dioxide, pyruvate, and succinate. The sequence of enzyme-catalyzed steps was as follows: ring-fission by a 2,3-dioxygenase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent dehydrogenation, decarboxylation, hydration, aldol fission, and oxidation of succinic semialdehyde. Two new metabolites, 5-carboxymethyl-2-hydroxymuconic acid and 2-hydroxyhepta-2,4-diene-1,7-dioic acid, were isolated from reaction mixtures and a third, 4-hydroxy-2-ketopimelic acid, was shown to be cleaved by extracts to give pyruvate and succinic semialdehyde. Enzymes of this metabolic pathway were present in Acinetobacter grown with 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid but were effectively absent when 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid or phenylacetic acid served as sources of carbon.