Regulation of vanillate and syringate catabolism by a MarR-type transcriptional regulator DesR in Sphingobium sp. SYK-6.

Vanillate and syringate are major intermediate metabolites generated during the microbial degradation of lignin. In Sphingobium sp. SYK-6, vanillate is O demethylated to protocatechuate by LigM; protocatechuate is then catabolized via the protocatechuate 4,5-cleavage pathway.