Abstract
Crude cell-free extracts from Cellulomonas flmi contain cellobiose phosphorylase which cleaves cellobiose into glucose and glucose- l-phosphate in the presence of inorganic phosphate. With the aid of this enzyme, two samples of C14-cellobiose labeled in reducing or non-reducing glucosyl moiety were prepared from uniformly labeled C14-glucose or C14-glucose-1-phosphate as substrate, respectively. The labeled preparations have been shown to be radiochemically pure. Analyses of the anaerobic fermentation products from C14-cellobiose by resting cell suspensions showed that both glucose moieties were fermented almost equivalently. However, relatively small differences in specific activities of the products revealed that significantly larger amounts of formic acid and smaller amounts of acetic acid were produced from the reducing glucose moiety than from the other half of the molecule. Succinic and lactic acids appeared to be produced almost equally from both moieties.
