Free and Cellulose-bound Cellulases in a Cellulomonas Species

Abstract

A cellulolytic bacterium, identified as belonging to the genus Cellulomonas, produced 2 classes of cellulases when grown in the presence of cellulose. One class comprised enzymes which were tightly bound to cellulose, and the other, enzymes which were found free in the culture supernatant fluid. The cellulose-bound activity reached a maximum at the beginning of the stationary phase and then decreased, but the soluble activity increased to a plateau late in the stationary phase. The production of both classes of enzyme was repressed by adding cellobiose or glycerol to the cellulose. Deprivation of C sources did not induce cellulolytic activity. Cellobiose and sophorose showed only weak inducing activity in the absence of cellulose.