Abstract
The metabolism of Rhodococcus has evolved to adapt to a wide range of nutritional conditions. This adaptation often involves the flexibility of the central metabolism, which usually provides energy and precursors for the biosynthesis processes, either during growth or during nonreplicative metabolically active periods. The pathways of central metabolism are close to identical across widely divergent organisms, which share essentially the same metabolic network. However, this network possesses species-specific components, which depend on the biology of rhodococci. The central metabolism of the members of the Rhodococcus genus in the context of their physiology is the main topic of this chapter. An overview of the main pathways of the central metabolism and their link with other metabolic processes is given. The glycolytic pathways, the gluconeogenesis and the phosphoenolpyruvate pyruvate oxalacetate node, the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), the glyoxylate pathway, and some litoautotrophic pathways are included.