Annals 
of the 
Missouri Botanical Garden 
Vol. 8 SEPTEMBER, 1921 No. 3 
STUDIES IN THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FUNGI 
XIV. SULPHUR NUTRITION: Tug Use or THIOSULPHATE AS 
INFLUENCED BY HypROGEN-ION CONCENTRATION! 
GEORGE M. ARMSTRONG 
Formerly Rufus J. Lackland Research Fellow in the H p Shaw School of Botany 
of Washington Universit 
INTRODUCTION AND uo REVIEW 
Sulphur is an essential element in the cell because it is a 
component part of certain indispensable proteins. The metab- 
olism or decomposition of various sulphur compounds by bacteria 
has been investigated by several workers, but the metabolism of 
the fungi with reference to such compounds has been little studied 
and is poorly understood. The activity of the sulphofying 
organisms of the soil has been a field for considerable investiga- 
tion in recent years. It has been shown that these organisms 
bring about the change of the organic sulphur of the soil into 
sulphates which become available for crops. The oxidation of 
sulphur by such organisms has been shown to be of value in 
making available the phosphorus of mineral phosphates (McLean, 
"18 
Sulphur metabolism may also play a beneficial role in sewage 
disposal in that certain species of bacteria may cause the oxida- 
tion of sulphur and of hydrogen sulphide to sulphates, thus re- 
ducing the amount of odor. Attempts have been made to apply 
1 An investigation carried out at the Missouri Botanical Garden in the Gra- 
duate Laboratory of the Henry Shaw School of Botany of Washington University, 
and submitted as a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree 
of doctor of philosophy in the Henry Shaw School of Botany of Washington Uni- 
versity. 
ANN. Mo. Bor. GARD., Vor. 8, 1921 (237) 
