Glycerol is not an inhibitor of mitochondrial citrate oxidation by Aspergillus niger

The effect of glycerol in mitochondrial citrate oxidation by Aspergillus niger was investigated. Mycelia of A. niger incubated with 0.5 molar glycerol increased intracellular glycerol pool level to 0.92 molar but had no effect on citrate uptake or carbon dioxide (CO2) release by the mycelia. Mitochondria preloaded with glycerol showed no significant increase in rate of CO2 release from mitochondria not loaded with glycerol. Loading with glycerol also had no effect on NADP-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase activity. These results suggest that glycerol neither stimulates nor inhibits citric acid accumulation by A. niger.