I Supported by an appropriation from Industrial Research funds of Iowa State College, as a part of the program for the study of the utilization of wastes by fermentation. The assistance of Mr. Charles Davis in checking cultural characteristics of a number of organisms is acknowledged.

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ALTHOUGH oxaloacetate has an important role in cellular metabolism, no enzyme has been described which brings about a rapid decarboxylation of the acid. Breusch [1939] investigated a heat-stable component of mammalian tissue responsible for this decarboxylation but could not identify it with any known physiological agent. The rate of this decarboxylation is comparatively slow. In investigations on the utilization of CO2 by bacteria, Wood & Werkman [1938; 1940] postulated the reverse reaction, i.e. the carboxylation of pyruvate to form oxaloacetate. This reaction was represented as follows:

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