Pyruvate fermentation by Oenococcus oeni and Leuconostoc mesenteroides and role of pyruvate dehydrogenase in anaerobic fermentation.

ABSTRACT The heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria Oenococcus oeni and Leuconostoc mesenteroides are able to grow by fermentation of pyruvate as the carbon source (2 pyruvate → 1 lactate + 1 acetate + 1 CO 2 ). The growth yields amount to 4.0 and 5.3 g (dry weight)/mol of pyruvate, respectively, suggesting formation of 0.5 mol ATP/mol pyruvate. Pyruvate is oxidatively decarboxylated by pyruvate dehydrogenase to acetyl coenzyme A, which is then converted to acetate, yielding 1 mol of ATP. For NADH reoxidation, one further pyruvate molecule is reduced to lactate. The enzymes of the pathway were present after growth on pyruvate, and genome analysis showed the presence of the corresponding st…