Abstract
The effect of copper ion added in the medium on the contents of UDP-sugars in a heavy metal tolerant fungus, Penicillium ochro-chloron ATCC 36741, was studied. Cytoplasmic sugar nucleotides were extracted by aqueous perchloric acid from the mycelia cultured both in the basal medium containing 0.1 mg 1-1 copper and in the copper supplemented medium (1 mol l-1). The contents of sugar nucleotides along with the growth stages were compared. In the presence of copper, the HPLC analysis revealed the presence of same sugar nucleotides as in the control culture, whereas the total contents of sugar nucleotides were far less than those of control culture. Among them, UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine and UDP-glucose were identified as major UDPsugars in the control culture, whereas in the presence of copper, UDP-glucose was a trace in amount while UDP-N-acetylglucosamine remained unchanged. Change of the cell wall composition was discussed in relation to the content of cytoplasmic UDP-sugars.
