Addition of exogenous acetate or ethanol to autotrophic cultures of Euglena gracilis strain Z induces formation of the glyoxylate by-pass. Visible light decreases the activity of malate synthase in green Euglena by about 50%. No such effect was found in a permanently bleached mutant. Aconitase activity parallels that of malate synthase, but isocitric dehydrogenase activity is constant under all conditions examined. Oxygen consumption is proportional to the activities of malate synthase and aconitase, but not to that of isocitric dehydrogenase. The results of similar studies with other growth substrates (pyruvate, malate, succinate) suggest that some of the oxygen consumed by C2-grown Euglena may not be associated with energy production.
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A 1966 study studied this question.