The Lactobacillus helveticus L-(+)-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH) gene (ldhL) was isolated from a lambda library. The nucleotide sequence of the ldhL gene was determined and shown to have the capacity to encode a protein of 323 amino acids (35.3 kDa). The deduced sequence of the 35-kDa protein revealed a relatively high degree of identity with other lactobacillar L-LDHs. The highest identity (80...

The first evidence concerning 6he origin of the sulfur-containing moiety of pantetheine and CoA’ was the finding in 1952 by Pierpont and Hughes (1) that whole cells of Lactobacillus urabinosus can convert PA t,o CoA only in the presence of cysteine (or cystine). In 1953 Brown and Snell (2) suggested that pantothenylcysteine is an intermediate in the formation of pantetheine from PA and cysteine...