Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Synthesis by Mycobacterium tuberculosis van bovis. ∗

Summary

The pathway of NAD biosynthesis in Mycobacteria was studied with cell-free extracts of M. tuberculosis var. bovis strain BCG Tice. The organism converted niacin to NAD with NaMN and NaAD as intermediates. PRPP, ATP, and MgCl₂ were shown to be requisite for NaMN formation while glutamine or asparagine were shown to be necessary for conversion of NaAD to NAD. The pathway was further elucidated by the demonstration that NaMN was itself utilized directly for coenzyme synthesis without prior decomposition to niacin.