Aerobic Degradation of Choline: I. Fermentation of Choline by a Marine Bacterium, Achromobacter Cholinophagum N. Sp.

A marine bacterium, isolated by an enrichment technique, is able to utilize choline as the sole carbon and nitrogen source in a medium containing various salts. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of the organism indicate that it is a new species. Substrate feeding coupled with culture filtrate analyses indicate that choline is metabolized as follows: choline → betaine → dimethylglycine + formaldehyde → sarcosine + formaldehyde → serine → pyruvate + ammonia without transmethylation being involved. This pathway has not previously been reported for other bacteria or for animal tissues.