| map00270 |
Cysteine and methionine metabolism |
Cysteine and methionine are sulfur-containing amino acids. Cysteine is synthesized from serine through different pathways in different organism groups. In bacteria and plants, cysteine is converted from serine (via acetylserine) by transfer of hydrogen sulfide [MD:M00021]. In animals, methionine-derived homocysteine is used as sulfur source and its condensation product with serine (cystathionine) is converted to cysteine [MD:M00338]. Cysteine is metabolized to pyruvate in multiple routes. Methionine is an essential amino acid, which animals cannot synthesize. In bacteria and plants, methionine is synthesized from aspartate [MD:M00017]. S-Adenosylmethionine (SAM), synthesized from methionine and ATP, is a methyl group donor in many important transfer reactions including DNA methylation for regulation of gene expression. SAM may also be used to regenerate methionine in the methionine salvage pathway [MD:M00034]. |
| map00010 |
Glycolysis / Gluconeogenesis |
Glycolysis is the process of converting glucose into pyruvate and generating small amounts of ATP (energy) and NADH (reducing power). It is a central pathway that produces important precursor metabolites: six-carbon compounds of glucose-6P and fructose-6P and three-carbon compounds of glycerone-P, glyceraldehyde-3P, glycerate-3P, phosphoenolpyruvate, and pyruvate [MD:M00001]. Acetyl-CoA, another important precursor metabolite, is produced by oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate [MD:M00307]. When the enzyme genes of this pathway are examined in completely sequenced genomes, the reaction steps of three-carbon compounds from glycerone-P to pyruvate form a conserved core module [MD:M00002], which is found in almost all organisms and which often corresponds to operon structures in bacterial genomes. Gluconeogenesis is a synthesis pathway of glucose from noncarbohydrate precursors. It is essentially a reversal of glycolysis with minor variations of alternative paths [MD:M00003]. |
