Xylella fastidiosa was the first plant pathogen to have its complete genome sequence elucidated. Routine database analyses suggested that two enzymes essential for fatty acid synthesis were missing, one of these is the holo-acyl-carrier-protein synthase. However, here we demonstrate, using C-13 NMR spectroscopy, that X. fastidiosa is indeed able to synthesize fatty acids from acetate via an apparently conventional metabolic pathway. We further identify a gene product HetI, an alternative phosphopantetheinyl transferase, which we propose to fill the missing link. Homology modeling of HetI shows conservation of the Coenzyme A binding site suggesting it to be an active enzyme and reveals several interesting structural features when compared with the surfactin synthase-activating enzyme. on which the model was built. These include a simplified topology due to N- and C-terminal deletions and the observation of a novel serine ladder. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rialits reserved.