Trypanosoma brucei: the effect of glycerol on the anaerobic metabolism of glucose

Abstract

Studies measuring the glycolytic intermediate and adenine nucleotide concentrations in Trypanosoma brucei metabolising glucose either aerobically or under conditions where glycerol-3-phosphate oxidase is inactive have shown the following: 1. Inhibition with 0.5 mM salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM) accurately simulates anaerobic conditions in T. brucei; 2. On inhibition of respiring cells with 0.5 mM SHAM, the concentrations of most glycolytic intermediates decrease; they decrease further as the concentration of glycerol, an end product, increases. Only the concentration of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate is increased. This increase depends upon the method of preparation but is independent of time and glycerol concentration. 3. Glycerol formation from sn-glycerol-3-phosphate is coupled to the phosphorylation of another compound. The results of these studies are consistent with this compound being ADP; 4, The degree of inhibition of the anaerobic metabolism of glucose exerted by glycerol varies with the sn-glycerol-3-phosphate concentration, implying that the effect of glycerol is at the site of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate: ADP transphosphorylation.