Degradation cell wall

J. L. Gomez-Pinchetti and G. Garda Reina, Enzymes from marine phycophages that degrade cell-walls of seaweeds, Mar. Biol., 116 (1993) 553-558. 

Figure 12 An SEM of class I condition of waterlogged archaeological oak. Note the heavily degraded cell wall layers...

Softening Limitated degradation cell wall pectin PG, PL, PAL... 

Figure 32. Spruce, slightly degraded cell walls split in the Sj (arrows).

TABLE 2. Hydrolysis products of methylated, original and degraded cell wall glucan of Pyricularia oryzae.(9)... 

Other enzymes could be utilized if the vegetable matrix is non-oleaginous, as protease hydrolyzes com gluten meal allowing the extraction of lutein, zeaxanthin and p-cryptoxanthin [81], and pectinases and cellulases to degrade cell wall polysaccharides from tomato skins to obtain more yields of lycopene in the extraction with hexane [82]. 

An a-l,3-D-arabinofuranosidase that degrades cell-wall material is synthesized by the potato dry-rot pathogen Fusarium caeruleum. ... 

P. Lewis and M. Paice, eds., Flant Cell Wall Polymers Biogenesis and Degradation, ACS Symposium Series, Washington, D.C., 1989, p. 299. 

Deoxyribonuclease (DNAase), an enzyme that degrades deoxyribonucleic acid, has been used in patients with chronic bronchitis, and found to produce favorable responses presumably by degrading the DNA, contributed by cell nuclei, to inflammatory mucus (213). Lysozyme [9001 -63-2] hydrolyzes the mucopeptides of bacterial cell walls. Accordingly, it has been used as an antibacterial agent, usually in combination with standard antibiotics. Topical apphcations are also useful in the debridement of serious bums, cellulitis, and dermal ulceration. 

Chemical lysis, or solubilization of the cell wall, is typically carried out using detergents such as Triton X-100, or the chaotropes urea, and guanidine hydrochloride. This approach does have the disadvantage that it can lead to some denaturation or degradation of the produci. While favored for laboratory cell disruption, these methods are not typically used at the larger scales. Enzymatic destruction of the cell walls is also possible, and as more economical routes to the development of appropriate enzymes are developed, this approach could find industrial application. Again, the removal of these additives is an issue. 

In nature, there are several sources of enzymes that are capable of catalysing the hydrolysis of PHB. The polymer itself is produced by bacteria and occurs in cells as discrete inclusion bodies. These bodies contain the necessary enzymes for degrading the polymer, preventing its build-up in the cell. As well as this, there are numerous bacteria and fungi, many of which are found in the soil, that are capable of secreting the necessary enzymes outside their cell walls, and thus of iiufiating degradation of PHB. 

CORNU A, BESLE J M, MOSONi p, GRENET E (1994) Lignin-carbohydrate complexes in forages structure and consequences in the ruminal degradation of cell-wall carbohydrates. Reprod Nutr Dev. 34 385-98. 

---