{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:03:24Z","timestamp":1785888204262,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Microbiology Society","issue":"12","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2003,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is the major membrane-forming phospholipid in eukaryotes with important structural and signalling functions. Although many prokaryotes lack PC, it can be found in significant amounts in membranes of rather diverse bacteria. Two pathways for PC biosynthesis are known in bacteria, the methylation pathway and the phosphatidylcholine synthase (PCS) pathway. In the methylation pathway, phosphatidylethanolamine is methylated three times to yield PC, in reactions catalysed by one or several phospholipid<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>-methyltransferases (PMTs). In the PCS pathway, choline is condensed directly with CDP-diacylglyceride to form PC in a reaction catalysed by PCS. Using cell-free extracts, it was demonstrated that<jats:italic>Sinorhizobium meliloti<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Agrobacterium tumefaciens<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Rhizobium leguminosarum<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Bradyrhizobium japonicum<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Mesorhizobium loti<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Legionella pneumophila<\/jats:italic>have both PMT and PCS activities. In addition,<jats:italic>Rhodobacter sphaeroides<\/jats:italic>has PMT activity and<jats:italic>Brucella melitensis<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>have PCS activities. Genes from<jats:italic>M. loti<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>L. pneumophila<\/jats:italic>encoding a Pmt or a Pcs activity and the genes from<jats:italic>P. aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>responsible for Pcs activity have been identified. Based on these functional assignments and on genomic data, one might predict that if bacteria contain PC as a membrane lipid, they usually possess both bacterial pathways for PC biosynthesis. However, important pathogens such as<jats:italic>Brucella melitensis<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>P. aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>seem to be exceptional as they possess only the PCS pathway for PC formation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.26522-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2003,12,8]],"date-time":"2003-12-08T21:38:53Z","timestamp":1070919533000},"page":"3461-3471","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":88,"title":["Pathways for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in bacteria"],"prefix":"10.1099","volume":"149","author":[{"given":"Fernando","family":"Mart\u00ednez-Morales","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n sobre Fijaci\u00f3n de Nitr\u00f3geno, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, Apdo Postal 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, CP62210, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Max","family":"Schobert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Technische Universit\u00e4t Braunschweig, Institut f\u00fcr Mikrobiologie, Spielmannstrasse 7, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabel M.","family":"L\u00f3pez-Lara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n sobre Fijaci\u00f3n de Nitr\u00f3geno, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, Apdo Postal 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, CP62210, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Otto","family":"Geiger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n sobre Fijaci\u00f3n de Nitr\u00f3geno, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, Apdo Postal 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, CP62210, 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