Other unique microbial biochemical pathways

The lot of hoopla is made about microbial diversity. While eucaryotic microbes especially the protista exhibit a great deal of structural diversity the procaryotes are without this distinction.

Every metabolic pathway consists of a series of biochemical reactions which are connected through their intermediates: the products of one reaction are the substrates for subsequent reactions and many more. Metabolic pathways are often considered to flow in one direction. While all chemical reactions are technically reversible conditions in the cell are often like that it is thermodynamically more favorable for flux to flow in one direction of a reaction. Example for, one pathway may be responsible for the synthesis of a particular amino acid but the breakdown of which amino acid may occur through a distinct and separate pathway. The example of an exception to this rule is the metabolism of glucose. The Glycolysis results in the breakdown of glucose but various reactions in the glycolysis pathway are reversible and participate in the re-synthesis of glucose.