ANAEROBIC PHOSPHORYLATION DUE TO A COUPLED OXIDATION-REDUCTION BETWEEN α-KETOGLUTARIC ACID AND OXALACETIC ACID

Abstract

Ochoa’s earlier demonstration (2) that reaction (2) results in the formation of several high energy phosphate bonds, it was suggested that the stimulating effect of reaction (2) on reaction (1) might be by way of the creation of these phosphate bonds. The observation that cr-ketoglutarate showed the same stimulating effect on reaction (1) under anaerobic conditions came as a surprise. However, it was soon apparent that this stimulating effect could be reduced to the same basis as under aerobic conditions if one assumed that a-ketoglutarate was oxidized to succinate according to reac-