Effect of Homoserine on Growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis: Inhibition of Glutamate Transport by Homoserine

SUMMARY: Homoserine strongly inhibited growth of Mycohacterium smegmatis in medium containing glutamate as the sole source of nitrogen but was without effect when asparagine, alanine or glutamine was the sole nitrogen source. It was readily taken up by glutamate-grown cells, reaching an intracellular concentration of over 20 mM after 4 h incubation. The primary site of action of homoserine was deduced to be the non-competitive inhibition of glutamate transport.