Endogenous Respiration of Polyporus Sulphureus

SUMMARY

Thirty percent of the dry weight of the basidiomycete Polyporus sulphureus is triterpenoid acid. The endogenous respiratory quotient of this organism is 0.8 indicating that the triterpenoid is being used as an endogenous storage material. Monosaccharides did not seem to be utilized as exogenous substrates but Krebs-cycle intermediates stimulated oxygen uptake. Pyruvic acid inhibited oxygen uptake. Studies with ¹⁴C-labeled glucose indicated that 27% of the glucose was metabolized by way of glycolysis. The hexose-monophosphate pathway was the major metabolic path for the utilization of glucose. Despite the fact that P. sulphureus is associated with brown rot, its carbon metabolism suggests that it utilizes substances associated with the degradation of lignin more readily than it does glucose.