GLYCEROL 209 



may be regarded as a biologically asymmetrical compound. When glyc- 

 erol-l-C^* was metabolized l)y slices obtained from the livers of fasting 

 normal rats, Teng, Karnovsky et al?^^ were able to account for the fate of 

 87.5% of the substrate as follows: glucose and glycogen, 71.5%; CO2, 

 4.8%; lactate, 3%; barium-precipitable and alcohol-insoluble fractions 

 (phosphorylated intermediates), 4.5%; and lipids, proteins, and ninhydrin- 

 labile CO2, 3.7%. 



When glycerol was oxidized under aerobic conditions by Streptococcus 

 faecalis (a species found in the intestines), lactic acid was found to be the 

 terminal product, while glycerophosphate and triosephosphate were be- 

 lie^'ed to be intermediates in the reaction.''^'' 



766 c. T. Teng, M. L. Karnovsky, B. R. Landau, A. B. Hastings, and F. B. Nesbett, 

 J. Biol. Chem., 202, 705-716 (1953). 



'" I. C. Gunsalus and W. W. Umbreit, J. BaderioL, 49, 347-357 (1945). 



