Abstract
This chapter presents an introduction to microbial metabolism. The cell wall and extramural layers of a micro-organism are freely permeable to the majority of compounds present in the environment, and the main barrier between a nutrient and the metabolic machinery of a micro-organism is the plasma membrane. When inside the micro-organism, a nutrient is subjected to a series of chemical modifications, that is, it is metabolized. The sequence of reactions by which a nutrient is metabolized is referred to as a metabolic pathway. A nutrient can enter one of two main types of metabolic pathway. Some, known as anabolic pathways, lead to an increase in the molecular complexity of the nutrient; others lead to a decrease in molecular complexity and are described as catabolic pathways. One of the main tasks of the microbial physiologist has been to discover the nature of each of the intermediates on various anabolic and catabolic pathways. Detailed analysis of a metabolic pathway requires ultimately the study of individual reactions and of the enzymes that catalyze these reactions. This is done using cell-free extracts of organisms, which are used either untreated or after being partially fractionated.
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