CELL WALL DYNAMICS 59 



Cellulase: 



cellulose-* oligosaccharides, cellobiose, glucose (mollusks, an- 

 nelids, nematodes, protozoa, bacteria, fungi, vascular plants). 

 Levanpo lyase: 



levan-> oligosaccharides such as 1 ,6-difructosyl fructose and 



1-levanbiosylfructose (bacteria). 

 oc-Pectinglycosidase : 



high ester pectin->acid-soluble uronides (fungi, vascular plants). 

 (3-Pectinglycosidase : 



pectin -> mono-, di-, tri-galacturonic acid (fungi, vascular plants). 

 Pectinglycosidase: 



high ester pectin->alcohol-soluble uronides (bacteria). 

 Pectin methylesterase : 



pectin ->pectic acid (bacteria, fungi, vascular plants). 

 Hyaluronidase: 



hyaluronic acid-»N-acetylamino-D-glucosyl-glucuronic acid, 



(bacteria, animal cells). 

 Chitinase: 



chitin->N-acetylglucosamine (bacteria, fungi, mollusks, insects). 

 Lysozyme: 



hexosamine-peptide cell wall -^soluble hexosamine-peptides and 



hexosamine-muramic acid dimer (bacteria, mammals). 



Some care must be exercised in deciding whether or not an 

 enzyme present in animals with gastrovascular systems is in fact 

 a product of the animal or of the micro-organisms in its gut. 

 Thus, some uncertainty remains as to the cellulase and chitinase in 

 mollusks and other invertebrates. 



Other carbohydrates such as glucuronidases, glucosaminidases, 

 cellobiase, etc., would also be included in an exhaustive listing. 

 The presence of lipids in many walls may also justify the inclusion 

 of appropriate enzymes which split the various kinds of ester linkage. 

 Conventional proteolytic enzymes do not ordinarily attack the 

 bacterial wall, its peptide content notwithstanding. Either the 

 inaccessibility of requisite peptide sequences or the high proportion 

 of D-isomers might contribute to the resistance of bacterial walls 

 to proteolysis. 



