MIcrobial genomics: Conservation, origin, and remodeling of the phenyl acetate degradation pathway

By reassessing the phenylacetic acid (PAA) hybrid pathway across thousands of bacterial and archaeal genomes, this study reveals that PAA metabolic potential is substantially more widespread than previously recognized. The results demonstrate that core enzymatic components, including phenylacetate-CoA ligase and the PaaA–PaaC epoxidase complex, are evolutionarily conserved despite extensive genomic and regulatory reorganization. These findings provide a robust genomic framework for identifying aromatic degradation potential in diverse microorganisms and improve our understanding of how complex metabolic pathways persist and diversify across prokaryotic lineages.