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Visualization of Cellulases and Cellulose Degradation

  • Chapter
Cellulose and Other Natural Polymer Systems

Abstract

Cellulases have biological and economic significance in their destructive roles in plant pathogenesis (W. Brown, 1965; Albersheim, 1969) and wood decay (Scheffer and Cowling, 1966; Liese, 1970); in their possible beneficial use in converting waste cellulose into glucose, which may then be converted into the valuable chemical ethanol (Wilkie, 1975); and in their role in cell-wall loosening in higher plants to allow cell elongation and growth (Ridge and Osborne, 1969). The cellulase enzyme system of Trichoderma reesei QM9414 was chosen for this study for two reasons. First, Trichoderma is famous for its ability to degrade highly crystalline cellulose and is one of the most efficient of the cellulolytic fungi (Mandels, 1975). Second, because Trichoderma is such a good source of cellulase, its enzyme system has been studied more extensively than that of any other cellulolytic organism. Consequently, the biochemical characterizations and activities of the various Trichoderma cellulase enzymes are well known.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, USA

    Alan R. White

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  1. Alan R. White
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    R. Malcolm Brown Jr.

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© 1982 Plenum Press, New York

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White, A.R. (1982). Visualization of Cellulases and Cellulose Degradation. In: Brown, R.M. (eds) Cellulose and Other Natural Polymer Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1116-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1116-4_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-1118-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-1116-4

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