A pyridoxal-phosphate protein. While?L-arginine is the best substrate, the enzyme exhibits broad substrate specificity, with?L-lysine,?L-methionine,?L-leucine,?L-ornithine and?L-glutamine also able to act as substrates, but more slowly. Pyruvate cannot be replaced by 2-oxoglutarate as amino-group acceptor. This is the first catalytic enzyme of the arginine transaminase pathway for?L-arginine utilization in?Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This pathway is only used when the major route of arginine catabolism, i.e. the arginine succinyltransferase pathway, is blocked.
