Abstract
IT is just forty years ago since the late Sir Arthur Harden, together with Dr. W. J. Young, published the significant results of their studies of the effect of inorganic orthophosphate on cell-free sugar fermentation. Harden and Young1 showed that phosphate is an essential component of this system, and this not merely by acting as a catalyst. They succeeded in showing that phosphate participates as a reactant in the process, that is, it is being esterifled to sugar. One mole phosphate is esterified per mole glucose converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The phosphoric ester which accumulates was already identified by Harden and Young as fructose-1-6-diphosphate, later called the ‘Harden-Young ester’. The chemical events taking place were summarized by Harden and Young in the following equation:
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KALCKAR, H. Aspects of the Biological Function of Phosphate in Enzymatic Syntheses*. Nature 160, 143–147 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160143a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160143a0
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