Publication - Journal Article Elucidation of roles for vitamin B ₁₂ in regulation of folate, ubiquinone, and methionine metabolism

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, iss. 7, 2017

Margaret F. Romine, Dmitry A. Rodionov, Yukari Maezato, Lindsey N. Anderson, Premchendar Nandhikonda, Irina A. Rodionova, Alexandre Carre, Xiaoqing Li, Chengdong Xu, Therese R. W. Clauss, Young-Mo Kim, Thomas O. Metz, Aaron T. Wright

Significance Using a chemical probe mimic of vitamin B 12 , we reveal a light- and B 12 -dependent DNA regulator, and make the unexpected discovery of B 12 having regulatory involvement in microbial folate, ubiquinone, and methionine processes. These findings suggest a pivotal role for B 12 in the control of cell growth, which may lead to coordination of cell behavior in complex multicellular systems. As key research questions emerge from host-associated and environmental microbiomes, we anticipate that B 12 regulatory control of metabolism will be found to be generalizable, will be critical for coordination of individual microbe and community metabolism, and that organismal interdependencies for B 12 may be pertinent to microbiome organization, stability, and overall function.