SUSTAINED OSCILLATIONS IN GLYCOLYSIS - AN EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL-STUDY OF CHAOTIC AND COMPLEX PERIODIC BEHAVIOR AND OF QUENCHING OF SIMPLE OSCILLATIONS

We report sustained oscillations in glycolysis conducted in an open sy stem (a continuous-flow, stirred tank reactor; CSTR) with inflow of ye ast extract as well as glucose. Depending on the operating conditions, we observe simple or complex periodic oscillations or chaos. We repor t the response of the system to instantaneous additions of small amoun ts of several substrates as functions of the amount added and the phas e of the addition. We simulate oscillations and perturbations by a kin etic model based on the mechanism of glycolysis in a CSTR. We find tha t the response to particular perturbations forms an efficient tool for elucidating the mechanism of biochemical oscillations. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.