The alcoholic ferment of yeast-juice. Part III.-The function of phosphates in the fermentation of glucose by yeast-juice

Abstract

In a previous communication the authors have shown* that when a soluble phosphate is added to a fermenting mixture of glucose and yeast-juice the following phenomena are to be observed : (1) The rate of fermentation is at once greatly increased. (2) This acceleration lasts for a short time and the rate then falls off, and returns approximately to its original value. (3) During this period the extra amount of carbon dioxide evolved and alcohol produced are equivalent to the phosphate added. (4) The phosphate is converted into a form which is not precipitable by magnesia-mixture, and is then probably present as a salt of a hexosephosphoric acid.(1) Effect of the Addition of Phosphate on the Total Fermentation.

The Role of Alcoholic Fermentation in the Rise of Biochemistry

“…Step 3 is irreversible, but steps 4 and 5 are reversible; when their products accumulate, their reactants do as well, backing up the pathway up to the step 3 product, which allowed Harden and Young to recover and analyze it in 1908 (32). Even though the exact structure of the hexose phosphate ester was not known, its discovery is attributed to Harden and Young.…”

“…Harden and Young inferred that there was something else in the inactivated additions that was necessary for fermentation. In a series of papers (31)(32)(33) summarized in Harden's book (34), Harden and Young reported the following instructive series of discoveries regarding cell-free alcoholic fermentation.…”

Respiration and Metabolism in Etiolated Wheat Seedlings as Influenced by Phosphorus Nutrition

“…VON OHLEN (31) shows that in germination there is a continual change of the organic phosphorus of the seed to the inorganic form which moves to the growing points where it again changes to the organic form. It may occur organically bound as nucleic acid (14), lecithin, cephalin, sphingomyelin (11), hexosediphosphate (8), hexosemonophosphate (27), and sucrosephosphate (19).…”

“…It forms, in the presence of sugars, mono-and di-hexosephosphoric acid esters (8,27), which are then broken down in the respiratory process. Under certain conditions it may form with sucrose a sucrose phosphoric acid ester (19).…”

Isolation of a Hexosemonophosphate From Pea Leaves

“…Introduction HARDEN and YOUNG (7,8) showed that phosphates accelerate the fermentation of sugars by yeast-juice and discovered hexosediphosphoric acid in the products resulting from such fermentation. Since that time the relation of phosphates to carbohydrate metabolism has been the subject of intensive study.…”