Using a chemically defined medium without L-alanine, Lactobacillus johnsonii was demonstrated to be strictly auxotrophic for that amino acid. A comparative genetic analysis showed that all known genes involved in L-alanine biosynthesis are absent from the genome of L. johnsonii. This auxotrophy was complemented by heterologous expression of the Bacillus subtilis L-alanine dehydrogenase.

Spores of Clostridium bifermentans germinated in the presence of L-alanine and sodium ions. The rate of germination was not altered by the addition of D-alanine but was increased by L-a-amino-n-butyrate, L-lactate, Lor D-arginine, L-histidine, DL-ornithine, L-lysine, pyruvate, Lor D-serine, L-phenylalanine or L-proline and decreased by D-phenylalanine, L-isoleucine, glycine or L-threonine. Comb...

To elucidate how intracellular L-alanine enhances water transport across the seawater eel intestine, effects of various metabolic inhibitors were examined. The L-alanine-induced water flux was inhibited by amino-oxyacetate, an inhibitor of aminotransferase. After blocking the synthesis of pyruvate from L-alanine with this drug, water transport was stimulated with pyruvate, whose effects were in...

Recent research has implicated T1R1/T1R3 as the primary taste receptor in mammals for detecting L-amino acids, including L-monosodium glutamate (MSG) and L-alanine. Previous behavioral studies with rodents found only minimal evidence that these two substances share perceptual qualities, but those studies did not control for the taste of sodium associated with MSG. This study used several behavi...