Cellulase cellulose from cotton fiber

Despite of their lack in hydrolytic activity, the CBDs of the cellulases CenA and Cex from C. fimi have been found to be capable of disrupting cotton fibers and releasing small particles from the substrate (Kilburn et al., 1993 Din et al., 1994a). This disruptive effect does not seem to be a general characteristic of CBM, since it was only found with CBD from cellulose from a Penicillium sp. (Gao et al., 2001). Anyhow, a synergism with the catalytic module and enhanced degradation capacity were reported (Din et al., 1994a). 

Cellulose-Cellulase System. In Figure 10 are shown the accessibility curves of the cotton which had been swollen to different extents by phosphoric acid. The fiber saturation point, given by the amount of water inaccessible to a very large molecule, is seen to increase from 0.48 ml./ gram for cotton treated with water alone to 1.40 ml./gram for cotton swollen in 78.8% acid. The median pore size increased from 23 A. to 52 A. 

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