Abstract
Growing cultures and washed mycelium of Trichoderma viride produced acrylate and acetate from allyl alcohol. Acrylate accumulating in mycelial suspensions accounted for about half of the allyl alcohol utilized. Postulated intermediates of α- and β-oxidative pathways were not oxidized when added to washed suspensions; oxygen consumption exceeded the endogenous level in the presence of malonic semialdehyde but this was attributed to ethanol in the preparation. Ethanol and allyl alcohol were oxidized at similar rates; arsenite inhibited oxidation of both alcohols and oxo-acids accumulated. Arsenite-inhibited mycelium oxidizing allyl alcohol accumulated 3 to 5 times as much pyruvate as similar mycelium oxidizing ethanol; smaller amounts of 2-oxoglutarate accumulated in suspensions oxidizing ethanol or endogenous substrates but only trace amounts in those oxidizing allyl alcohol. These results indicate that Trichoderma viride metabolizes allyl alcohol via acrylate and the α-oxidative pathway.
