1. b-D-Galactopyranose has been shown by specificity studies and by gas-liquid chromatographic investigations to be the substrate of the D-galactose dehydrogenases from Pseudomonas sacchurophilu and from Pseudomonas fluorescens.2. cc-~-Galactopyranose and the two ring-isomeric D-galactofuranoses are oxidized, at high enzyme concentrations, only after their rate-limiting isomerization into the b-D-pyranose. The open-chained aldehyde form of D-galactose has been likewise excluded as substrate.3. D-Galactono-l,5-lactone has been shown by gas-liquid chromatography to be the immediate product of the enzymatic dehydrogenation of D-galactose and identified by combined gas-liquid chromatography -mass spectrometry of the isolated trimethylsilylated derivative.4. The primarily formed D-galactono-l,5-lactone rearranges non-enzymatically to the corresponding D-galactono-l,4-lactone by an intramolecular rearrangement without the participation of the open-chained D-galactonate. This rearrangement is strongly dependent on the pH-value, having a first-order rate constant k = 1.0 min-' at pH 6.8 under the conditions used. were determined at pH 6.8 under the conditions used, enabling the estimation of the apparent equilibrium constant for the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme6. Results analogous to those with D-galactose were obtained from investigations with the homeomorphic L-arabinose. The pyranose ring with the hydroxyl group at carbon-1 in the equatorial position is likewise the only substrate, and the immediate product, the 1,5-lactone, also rearranges subsequently to the corresponding 1,4-lactone, having a first-order rate constant k = 0.22 min-l at pH 6.8 under the conditions used. The ~-arabinono-1,5-lactone has also been identified by gas-liquid chromatography -mass spectrometry of the trimethylsilylated derivative.