Aminoacetone formation by Staphylococcus aureus

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Abstract
Washed suspensions of Staphylococcus aureus form an aminoketone when shaken in air in the presence of threonine. The threonine metabolite was isolated in crystalline form as the salt of toluene-p-sulphonic acid and was positively identified as aminoacetone. A compound with properties indistinguishable from those of aminoacetone is synthesized in Staphylococcus aureus by what is apparently a 2nd route requiring the presence of glycine, glucose and oxygen. The mechanisms involved in the formation of aminoacetone by the 2 routes are discussed. The possible role of aminoacetone in metabolism is discussed. It is suggested that the metabolite may be oxidized by a metabolic cycle in which the compound is converted into methylglyoxal and thence to pyruvic acid via the glyoxalase and D-lactate dehydrogenase systems.