[The deamination of L-arginine and the synthesis of active nitrogen compounds in Yersinia pestis].

Y. pestis were found to be capable of highly effective deamination of L-arginine with the formation of citrulline and the synthesis of active nitrogen compounds. The formation of citrulline by the cells of initial strains and arginine-dependent derivatives with the blocking of the synthesis of arginine on the level of ArgG, ArgF and ArgE was shown. The temperature of incubation, the concentration of hydrogen ions (pH) and the presence of exogenic L-arginine were found to produce a regulatory effect on the intensity of the process of deamination. The products of arginine decomposition are supposed to play a pathogenetic role in Y. pestis infection.