* 
AMERICAN --Ja-J*-- 
JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
Vol. II October, 1915 No. 8 
THE UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN PENTOSES AND COM- 
POUNDS OF PENTOSES BY GLOMERELLA 
CINGULATA* 
LoN A. Hawkins 
Compounds of the pentose sugars are generally present in the cell 
walls of plants. These compounds apparently may be composed of 
pentoses alone or in combination with sugars of other groups. The 
compounds of pentoses alone are frequently called pentosans. When 
they are considered to be derived from a single pentose, they may be 
referred to more specifically, as, for example, araban and xylan, which 
are considered to be the polysaccharides of arabinose and xylose 
respectively. The widespread occurrence of these compounds in 
plants has led to numerous investigations as to their utilization by 
organisms. The question as to whether or not animals and plants 
secrete enzymes capable of splitting the complex pentosans to their 
constituent sugars has also received some attention. A discussion 
of the results of some of these investigations will follow. For a more 
comprehensive bibliography the work of Swartz^ may be consulted. 
It has been shown by Lindsey and Holland,^ Slowtzoff,^ Goetze 
and Pfeififer,^ Swartz,^ and others that pentosans as such disappear in 
* Published by permission of the Secretary of Agriculture. 
1 Swartz, Mary Davies. Nutrition Investigations on the Carbohydrates of 
Lichens, Algae, and related substances. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sciences i6: 
247-382. 191 1. 
2 Lindsey, J. B., and Holland, E. B. Concerning the Digestibility of the 
Pentosans. Ann. Rep. of Mass. Agr. Exp. Sta. 1894: 175-188. 
^ Slowtzoff, B. Ueber das Verhalten des Xylans im Thierkorper. Zeitschr. 
Physiol. Chemie 34: 181-193. 1901-2. 
^ Goetze, K., and Pfeiffer, Th. Beitrage zur Frage iiber die Bildung resp. das 
Verhalten der Pentaglykosen im Pflanzen- und Tierkorper. Landw. Versuchs- 
Stationen 47: 59-93. 1896. 
^ Swartz, Mary Davies. Loc. cU. 
[The Journal for July (2: 311-374) was issued 18 Aug 1915] 
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