FIG. 1.

(A) Degradation halos caused by the extracellular CGPase from P. alcaligenes strain DIP1 on a CGP-overlaid agar plate. CphE, the crude enzyme powder before the degradation phase (phase III); CphE R, the recovered powder after the degradation phase. (B) Phase-contrast micrograph of cells of E. coli DH1(pMA/c5.914::cphA_PCC6803) after 15 h of fermentation in a Biostat D650 reactor in 7% (vol/vol) protamylasse medium. CGP grana appear as light-reflecting accumulations in the cells. Bar, 10 μm. (C) CGP degradation in a 100 g liter⁻¹ water suspension of the polymer by the action of 10 g liter⁻¹ crude CphE_al at 50°C. Tube 1, control suspension (no CphE_al); tube 2, after CGP degradation.