FATS 19 



Mannitol. Several workers have reported the occurrence of 

 the hexahydric alcohol, mannitol, within the tissues of molds, and 

 it has been regarded as a reserve product. Raistrick et al. ( 193 1 ), 

 however, established that mannitol can be formed in Czapek-Dox 

 glucose solution, where it appears as a product of fermentation. 

 Aspergillus elegans, A. nidulans, A. wentii, Penicillium chrysoge- 

 num, and Helminthosporium geniculatum were the organisms con- 

 cerned in their experiments. Coyne and Raistrick (1931) found 

 that Aspergillus can ferment glucose, mannose, and galactose with 

 the production of mannitol, and that the pentoses, xylose and 

 arabinose, can likewise be fermented in the same manner. For 

 some reason not understood, Aspergillus did not form mannitol 

 from fructose. 



POLYSACCHARIDES 



Many fungus structures have long been known to become blue 

 when stained with iodine, a reaction used to establish the presence 

 of "mold starch." Presumably the term mold starch applies to a 

 group of closely related substances rather than to a single one. 

 Boas (1917, 1922) found that Aspergillus niger can utilize various 

 sugars, glycerol, mannitol, and several organic acids, such as citric, 

 malic, oxalic, and tartaric, in producing mold starch, provided that 

 high temperatures are maintained and free acids are present in 

 the culture solution. 



Chrzaszcz and Tiukow (1929, 1929a) observed that many spe- 

 cies of Penicillium produce mold starch. 



Dox and Neidig (1914) grew Penicillium expansion on Raulin's 

 solution containing <i-glucose. From the mycelium they isolated 

 a polysaccharide which they named mycodextran. From Asper- 

 gillus niger grown on the same medium they isolated both myco- 

 dextran and another polysaccharide that they called mycoga- 

 lactan. 



Several other polysaccharides have been isolated [Raistrick 

 (1938)], including luteic acid elaborated by Penicillium luteum, 

 mannocarolose and galactocarolose by P. charlesii, and varianose 

 by P. varians. 



FATS 



It is well known that many species of fungi store globules of 

 fats within their spores and that fats may be present also within 



