Trehalose Synthesis during Differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum

Kinetic models have been constructed which simulate the accumulation of trehalose during differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum. These models predict that trehalose synthetase activity in vivo does not increase during the same period in which in vitro analyses indicate an accumulation of this enzyme. The models also predict that the rate of trehalose synthesis in vivo should increase very rapidly over a brief period of time late in culmination, and be of the order of 0.03 µmole per min per ml of packed cells.