Products formed from glycolic acid in plants.

In green plants there is an active enzyme which oxidizes glycolic acid to glyoxylic acid (I) ; however, in viva or in crude plant saps the glyoxylic acid does not accumulate in appreciable amounts but is further utilized. In this paper evidence is presented to show that the major end-products from glycolic acid utilization by barley and wheat plants are glycine, serine, and an unknown. The formation of serine appears to be analogous to the recently established pathway in animals and microorganisms for synthesis of serine from glycine (2).