myo-inositol degradation into acetyl-CoA PMID:14993306 PMID:17449687 KEGG:map00521 PMID:11274120 Degradation of myo-inositol, an abundant compound in soil. Myo-Inositol is also common and essential in plants. Several micro-organisms, including model organism Bacillus subtilis (PMID:9226270), can grow on inositol as the carbon source. It was thought that bacterial inositol catabolism is only required for efficient utilization of this compound. However, the inositol dehydrogenase of Sinorhizobium fredii not only catalyses the initial reaction step of inositol catabolism but also is involved in nitrogen fixation and competitiveness to nodulate soybeans (PMID:11274120). Furthermore, MocA and MocC of Sinorhizobium meliloti which participate in degradation of rhizopine (L-3-O-methyl-scyllo-inosamine), a symbiosis- specific compound found in alfalfa nodules, exhibited significant similarities to IolG and IolE involved in inositol catabolism of B. subtilis, respectively (PMID:9226270), and the inositol catabolism pathway was tightly linked with rhizopine utilization in S. meliloti (PMID:9802033). These facts implied an interesting relationship between bacterial inositol catabolism and plant/bacteria symbiosis for nitrogen fixation. KEGG:map01110 PMID:9802033 PMID:9226270 KEGG:map01100 KEGG:map00562 UPa:UPA00076 PMID:4351258 pathway myo-inositol degradation polyol metabolism