Studies on the biodegradation of fosfomycin: Synthesis of 13C-labeled intermediates, feeding experiments with rhizobium huakuii PMY1, and Isolation of Labeled Amino Acids from Cell Mass by HPLC

<p>Racemic (1R*,2R*)-1,2-dihydroxy-[1- ^{13C ₁]propylphosphonic acid and 1-hydroxy-[1- ¹³C ₁]acetone were synthesized and fed to R. huakuii PMY1. Alanine and a mixture of valine and methionine were isolated as their N-acetyl derivatives from the cell hydrolysate by reversed-phase HPLC and analyzed by NMR spectroscopy. It was found that the carbon atoms of the respective carboxyl groups were highly ¹³C-labeled (up to 65 %). Hydroxyacetone is therefore considered an obligatory intermediate of the biodegradation of fosfomycin by R. huakuii PMY1.}</p>