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. 1967 Nov;94(5):1594–1602. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.5.1594-1602.1967

Role of a Cell-Wall Glucan-degrading Enzyme in Mating of Schizophyllum commune

Joseph G H Wessels 1, Donald J Niederpruem 2
PMCID: PMC276867  PMID: 6057808

Abstract

Mycelial enzyme extracts of Schizophyllum commune were prepared during vegetative growth matings leading to common-A and common-B heterokaryons and the dikaryon, and were examined for hydrolytic activity against an alkaliinsoluble cell-wall glucan (R-glucan) isolated from this mushroom. In extracts from several individual homokaryotic mycelia the R-glucanase activity was low and did not increase when the cultures exhausted glucose in the medium. In common-A matings, a 30-fold increase in specific activity of intracellular R-glucanase was found even in the presence of glucose in the broth. An increase of this magnitude was not observed in the common-B mating nor in the fully compatible cross leading to the dikaryon. Extracts of the dikaryon did show elevated R-glucanase activity after exogenous glucose disappearance and subsequent fruiting. In none of these situations was an enzyme activity detected towards an alkali-soluble cell-wall glucan (S-glucan) prepared from S. commune. Changes in R-glucanase were not parallelled by identical changes in laminarinase, pustulanase, cellobiase, and p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucosidase, but comparable increases in specific activities were found for hydrolysis of glycogen and maltose. After interaction of the various mycelia in mating combinations, the S-glucan/R-glucan ratio of the cell wall of the dikaryon was found to be similar to that of the homokaryons, but increased in the common-B interaction and was elevated almost threefold in the common-A heterokaryon.

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Selected References

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