The fate of acetyl groups derived from glucose in the isolated perfused goat udder

Abstract

In the isolated perfused goat mammary gland, both glucose and acetate contribute 20-30% of carbon to citrate via acetyl-CoA. Carbon dioxide does not contribute significantly to the formation of acetyl-CoA. Adenosine triphosphate citrate lyase, which, in rats, yields acetyl-CoA for fatty acid synthesis, is absent from or very low in high-speed supernatant fraction of ruminant tissue. It is reasonable to infer that intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA, to which both glucose and acetate contribute, is separated from extramitochondrial acetyl-CoA to which glucose does not contribute and which is used for fatty acid synthesis.