Benoit Desguin
Institute of Life Sciences,
B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgium
Mini Review
Lactate Racemization and Beyond
Author(s): Benoit Desguin*
Benoit Desguin*
Enzymatic racemization of lactate has been reported in several bacterial species, including Lactobacillus species. The role of lactate racemase (Lar) is still a matter of debate and is probably dependent if the species in which it is found is a lactate producer, a lactate consumer, or both. A transcriptomic experiment revealed the involvement of two operons of 9 genes in lactate racemization in L. plantarum: the larR (MN) QO and the larABCDE operons. The lactate racemase, LarA, has been shown to harbour a tethered nickel pincer complex, which we call Nickel Pincer Nucleotide or NPN in this review. This cofactor seems well adapted to catalyse lactate racemisation by a hydride transfer mechanism. The cofactor is synthesized from nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide by the NPN biosynthetic enzymes: LarB, LarC, and LarE. LarD is an aquaglyceroporin, LarR a transcriptional.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2155-9597.1000335