Coping with formaldehyde during C1 metabolism of Paracoccus denitrificans

Methylotrophic bacteria are capable of growth using reduced one-carbon (C1) compounds like methanol or methylamine as free energy sources. Paracoccus denitrificans, which is a facultative methylotrophic organism, switches to this type of autotrophic metabolism only when it experiences a shortage of available heterotrophic free energy sources. Since the oxidation of C1 substrates is energetically less favourable than that of the heterotrophic ones, a global regulatory circuit ensures that the enzymes involved in methylotrophic growth are repressed during heterotrophic growth. Once the decision is made to switch to methylotrophic growth, additional regulatory proteins ensure the fine-tuned expression of the participating enzymes such that the steady-state concentration of formaldehyde, the oxidation product of C1 substrates, is kept below cytotoxic levels.