Previous studies have shown that Escherichia coli possesses two principal pathways for the biosynthesis of pentose from hexose. The best known involves the decarboxylation of 6-phosphogluconate to ribulose 5-phosphate. This is the principal pathway in E. coli grown on glucose (Lanning and Cohen, 1954; Bernstein, 1956). This pathway will be referred to as the oxidative pathway. (The term oxidative pathway is used here to describe the formation of pentose by the oxidative decarboxylation of 6-phosphogluconate and excludes any resynthesis by a complete pentose cycle. The stoichiometry is: 3 hexose + oxygen 3 pentose + 3 CO2. The term transketolasetransaldolase pathway is used here to indicate nonoxidative synthesis of pentose from hexose,
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