ABSTRACT
Although many bacteria and fungi are cyanogenic, the cyanogenic compounds of these organisms usually are labile. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is released from glycine by oxidative decarboxylation in a Pseudomonas species (Wissing and Anderson 1981). labeling studies indicate that the C-N bond is not broken during the biosynthesis of cyanide (Harris et al. 1987). Occasionally, cyanohydrins have been isolated. but these may result from secondary reactions between hydrogen cyanide and other fungal metabolites. The cyanohydrins of glyoxylic and pyruvic acids have been reported from a snow mold fungus (Bunch and Knowles 1980; Knowles 1988; Tapper and MacDonald 1974; Fig. 2).
