The metabolism of succinic semialdehyde by a psychrophilic basidiomycete

A plant-pathogenic psychrophilic basidiomycete metabolized succinic semialdehyde-14C to 14CO2 and various compounds labelled with 14C that appeared in the cation, anion, and neutral fractions of the fungus. The major portion of succinic semialdehyde taken into the cell was oxidized to succinic acid. A crude extract of the fungus possessed a soluble succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase that was characterized as to stability, pH optimum, Km, substrate specificity, and coenzyme specificity. Electrophoresis of the crude extract on acrylamide gels showed that there were either several enzymes able to oxidize succinic semialdehyde or that several forms of the same enzyme exist in the fungus.