1916] 
ZELLER—PHYSIOLOGY OF LENZITES SAEPIARIA 455 
ENZYMES OF LENZITES SAEPIARIA 
E RASES 
By the aetion of esterases the esters of the fatty acids are 
saponified and are thus resolved into their constituents, 
aleohols and fatty acids. It is thus possible to recognize and 
measure the activity of the enzymes in decomposing esters 
by determining the acidity of the substrate quantitatively by 
titration against alkali. 
The presence of fatty globules in the hyphae of fungi has 
led to the investigation of the enzymes capable of accom- 
plishing their hydrolysis. Biffen (799) found а fat-destroying 
fungus belonging to the Hypocreales which grew luxuriantly 
on the endosperm and milk of the cocoanut. All cultures of 
the fungus showed that the fats became emulsified, and the 
substrate became increasingly acid with continued growth and 
had a pleasant ethereal odor something like that of amyl 
butyrate. On triturating the mycelium with kieselguhr, and 
filtering under pressure, he obtained an extraet which decom- 
posed both cocoanut oil and monobutyrin. Buller (’06) found 
that 10 ce. of the juice from the sporophores of Polyporus 
squamosus hydrolyzed 43 per cent of a 1.84 per cent ethyl ace- 
tate solution in 330 hours. He mentions “that when spores 
of Polyporus squamosus are allowed to dry for several days, 
many of them develop large fat drops. On germination of 
the spores in malt-wort extract these drops disappear. Per- 
haps this is due to the action of lipase." Bayliss (208) was 
not able to demonstrate the presence of lipase in Polystictus 
versicolor. Dox (710) has reviewed the literature concerning 
the filamentous fungi which split the fats. Reed (713) found 
that the enzyme powder prepared from Glomerella rufomacu- 
lans split ethyl acetate and ethyl butyrate, but that the in- 
erease in acidity was much greater where ethyl acetate was 
used as the substrate. 
The presence of oil globules in the spores and mycelium of 
L. saepiaria led to the investigation of the power of the 
fungus to utilize such substances. Thus, experiments were 
conducted using as substrates the following: olive oil emul- 
