title: Products of Leishmania braziliensis glucose catabolism: release of D-lactate and, under anaerobic conditions, glycerol.
abstract: Leishmania braziliensis panamensis promastigotes were incubated with glucose as the sole carbon source. About one-fifth of the glucose consumed under aerobic conditions was oxidized to CO2. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies with [1-13C]glucose showed that the other products released were succinate, acetate, alanine, pyruvate, and lactate. Under anaerobic conditions, lactate output increased, glycerol became a major product, and, surprisingly, glucose consumption decreased. Enzymatic assays showed that the lactate formed was D(-)-lactate. The release of alanine during incubation with glucose as the sole carbon source suggested that appreciable proteolysis occurred, consistent with our observation that a large amount of ammonia was released under these conditions. The discoveries that D-lactate is a product of L. braziliensis glucose catabolism, that glycerol is produced under anaerobic conditions, and that the cells exhibit a "reverse" Pasteur effect open the way for detailed studies of the pathways of glucose metabolism and their regulation in this organism.
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D005990:Glycerol / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006019:Glycolysis; D007773:Lactates / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D019344:Lactic Acid; D007891:Leishmania / Q000378:metabolism*; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D019344:Lactic Acid; D005947:Glucose; D005990:Glycerol