Fungal Cellulases XI. The Nature of the Inductive Process for Aryl ?-Glucosidase in Stachybotrys Atra

Abstract

The properties of the inductive process for the aryl F/.glucosidase of S. atra are described. The induction appears to be independent of growth, respiration, and the uptake of measurable quantities of inducer into the cell. There is a lag period in the induction, the length of which depends on the physiological history of the mould and the temperature of induction; the temperature effect appears to be governed by a process with activation energy of 16 kcal/mole. The amount of inducible enzyme for a given sample of the mould appears to be equal to that which would have eventually been produced "constitutively" at the end of the growth period. The induction is inhibited competitively by monoses; this effect is reversed competitively by 3·0-methyl glucose. 3-0-Methyl glucose has a con-siderable inducer activity in its own right, and also stimulates the inductive effect due to thioglucoside. The only other inhibitors found are streptomycin and S-aminoethyl-L-cysteine. The effect of the latter is reversed by DL-lysine. No other substance known or expected to have an effect on cellular protein-synthesizing systems inhibited the induction.