Functional Characterization of Three Specific Acyl-Coenzyme A Synthetases Involved in Anaerobic Cholesterol Degradation in Sterolibacterium denitrificans Chol1S

The denitrifying betaproteobacterium Sterolibacterium denitrificans Chol1S catabolizes steroids such as cholesterol via an oxygen-independent pathway. It involves enzyme reaction sequences described for aerobic cholesterol and bile acid degradation as well as enzymes uniquely found in anaerobic steroid-degrading bacteria. Recent studies provided evidence that in S. denitrificans , the cholest-4-en-3-one intermediate is oxygen-independently...