Synergistic Interaction of Cellulases from Trichoderma reesei During Cellulose Degradation

The synergism between purified cellulolytic components of Trichoderma reesei during degradation of different cellulosic substrates was studied and was found to be maximal on crystalline cellulose and to decrease with increasing substrate concentration. Optimal ratios of two cellulase components in synergistic mixtures are calculated from the kinetic constants in a new formal-kinetic model which was derived to describe the synergistic hydrolysis rates. They were found to depend on the total enzyme concentration which reflects the degree of substrate saturation with enzyme. Evidence for a sequential enzymatic attack of cellulose was obtained because pretreatment of cellulose by one enzyme component could increase the activity of a subsequendy acting cellulase.