Glucose utilization by suspensions of Tetrahymena pyriformis

A method has been developed for determining the rate of glucose utilization by washed suspensions of T. pyriformis. The rate of utilization ranged from 0.23–1.9 × 10 −7 mg per cell per hour, depending on the age of the culture. Neither differences in glucose concentration from 33–100 mg/100 ml nor insulin affected the rate of utilization. The decrease in rate of glucose uptake with increasing age of the culture may involve a shift in metabolism brought about by depletion of exogenous glucose during growth.