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.

Production of β-glucosidase byCladosporium resinae

“…Increased enzyme yields, by including starch and Tween-80 in the medium, were also observed by Sternberg et al (1977) and increased/3-glucosidase production was observed by Jermyn (1965) and Lusis & Becker (1973) by addition of starch to the medium. The mechanism of induction by starch, an a(1--,4)-glucose polymer, was not clearly understood.…”

A geographically diverse set of isolates indicates two phylogenetic lineages withinStachybotrys chartarum

“…To date, a diverse assortment of environment-related illnesses including chronic fatigue, allergy, impaired lung function, as well as central nervous system disorders have been ascribed to putative environmental exposures to this fungus, resulting from contaminated indoor air and construction materials (Croft et al 1986;Johanning et al 1996;Etzel et al 1998;Hodgson et al 1998). Historically, however, S. chartarum has been known for both its ability to degrade natural and manufactured cellulose-based products (Sui 1951;Jermyn 1965) and act as agents of mycotoxic syndromes (e.g., stachybotryotoxicosis) in livestock (Forgacs 1972;Ueno 1983).…”