Regulation of cellulase from Ruminococcus

Abstract

The regulation of cellulase was examined in Ruminococcus albus and R. flavefaciens. Hydrolysis of cellulose, as shown by the formation of clear zones around the colonies of bacteria grown in cellulose-agar roll tubes, was inhibited by moderate levels of cellobiose. An intermediate in the metabolism of cellobiose may be responsible for the inhibition since strains which can use either sucrose or lactose were similarly inhibited by these energy sources. The inhibition of cellulase was examined in relation to either repression of enzyme synthesis or product inhibition of the enzyme activity. There was no inhibition by cellobiose added either to the routine enzymatic assay or to assays using low concentrations of carboxymethylcellulose. A repression mechanism was indicated by the decrease in specific activity of cultures grown in higher concentrations of cellobiose. The specific activity was calculated as the enzymatic activity on carboxymethylcellulose with respect to cell growth. The mechanism of repression was not distinguished between the model proposed by Jacob and Monod and catabolite repression. The growth of R. albus cultured in cellobiose–cellulose liquid medium exhibited a diauxic pattern similar to that described by Monod.