Presence of nonoxidative enzymes of the pentose phosphate shunt in Tetrahymena.

Tetrahymena pyriformis, strain HSM, do not have glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase or 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, but contain transaldolase, transketolase, ribose 5-phosphate isomerase, ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase, and ribokinase. The nonoxidative enzymes of the pentose phosphate shunt function in metabolism as indicated by the incorporation of label from [1-14C]ribose into CO2 and glycogen and by the increase in total glycogen content of cultures supplemented with ribose.