Isolation and characterization of glycogen from mycelium of Ascobolus furfuraceus

A polysaccharide with the properties of glycogen has been isolated by water or phenol-water extraction from homogenates of Ascobolus furfuraceus. After 4 days of growth a maximum glycogen content of 28% of the cell dry weight was found by a specific enzymic method or by the iodine method. Taking into account the cell growth, the highest total amount of glycogen (2.04 mg/ml of broth) occurred on the 10th day. The average chain length determined by periodate oxidation was about 11. This result shows that the reserve polysaccharide from A. furfuraceus has a highly branched structure similar to liver glycogen.