Carbohydrate metabolism in Microsporum canis.

Enzyme systems concerned in the breakdown of carbohydrates by dennatophytes have been little studied, the principal contribution being a study of a number of enzymes of the glycolytic and hexosemonophosphate pathways and of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in cell-free extracts of Trichophyton mentagrophytes (Jensen, Altschuller & Bard, 1957). The effect of different substrates and pH values on the respiratory activity of agar cultures of a number of dennatophytes and of submerged cultures of Microspmm canis have also been studied (Nickerson & Chadwick, 1946; Melton, 1951). From studies of the action of inhibitors on intact mycelium and of the oxidation of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates by mycelial dispersions of Microsporum canis we obtained preliminary evidence for the presence of some of the enzymes concerned in this pathway (Chattaway, Thompson & Barlow, 1954, 1956). The present paper describes the demonstration in cell-free extracts of a number of these enzymes, together with many of those of the glycolytic and hexosemonophosphate pathways.