Ralstonia eutropha H16 possesses an incomplete phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) composed of EI, HPr, EIIA(Ntr) (PtsN) and EIIA(Man) (PtsM). We could show that in vitro the incomplete PTS phosphorylation cascade is partially functional. HPr becomes phosphorylated by PEP and EI, and transfers the phosphoryl group to EIIA(Ntr), but only extremely slowly to EIIA(Man)....

Ralstonia eutropha is a strictly respiratory facultative lithoautotrophic beta-proteobacterium. In the absence of organic substrates, H2 and CO2 are used as sole sources of energy and carbon. In the absence of oxygen, the organism can respire by denitrification. The recent determination of the complete genome sequence of strain H16 provides the opportunity to reconcile the results of previous p...

Wild-type Ralstonia eutropha H16 produces polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as an intracellular carbon storage material during nutrient stress in the presence of excess carbon. In this study, the excess carbon was redirected in engineered strains from PHB storage to the production of isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol (branched-chain higher alcohols). These branched-chain higher alcohols can directly su...

Mutant strain 25-1 of the facultative chemoautotroph Ralstonia eutropha H16 had previously been shown to exhibit an obligately high-CO(2)-requiring (HCR) phenotype. Although the requirement varied with the carbon and energy sources utilized, none of these conditions allowed growth at the air concentration of CO(2). In the present study, a gene designated can and encoding a beta-carbonic anhydra...