What does wood-ljungdahl-pathway mean?

Wood-Ljungdahl pathway is a series of biochemical reactions used by some bacteria and archaea called acetic acid-producing bacteria. Also known as reducing acetyl l- CoA (acetyl-CoA) pathway. [1] This pathway enables these organisms to use hydrogen as an electron donor and carbon dioxide as an electron acceptor and a building block for biosynthesis.

In this way, carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon monoxide and formic acid, or directly to formyl, which is reduced to methyl, and then combined with carbon monoxide and coenzyme A to produce acetyl coenzyme A. Two special enzymes are involved in the carbon monoxide side of this pathway: carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and acetyl coenzyme A synthase. The former catalyzes the reduction of carbon dioxide, while the latter combines the generated carbon monoxide with methyl to generate acetyl coenzyme A. [ 1][2]

This pathway exists in bacteria and archaea, such as methanogenic bacteria [3] and acetic acid-producing bacteria, such as cysticercus. Unlike the reverse Krebs cycle and calvin cycle, this process is not circular. Recent studies on the genomes of a group of bacteria and archaea show that the last common ancestor (LUCA) of all cells used the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway in hydrothermal environment. [4]