Glucosidases and exo-glucanases

Abstract

A comparison was made of exo-[alpha]-glucanases [from Aspergillus niger] with [alpha] -glucosidases [from A. niger, Paecilomy-ces varioti, Penicillium parvum], and of exo-[beta]1[forward arrow]-3-glucanases [from Sporotrichum pruinosum, a basidiomycete sp.] with [beta]-glucosidases [from A. niger, Penicillium melinii] to establish criteria for their characterization. Dimers, trimers, and tetramers of glucose are substrates for both exo-glucanases and glucosidases. Exo-glucanases act more rapidly on the longer oligomers, glucosidases on the shorter. Exo-glucanases act with inversion of configuration, glucosidases with retention. Other differences are found in transfer activity, in degree of specificity, and in susceptibility to various inhibitors.