Microcalorimetric study of cellulose degradation by Cellulomonas uda ATCC 21399

A newly designed batch calorimeter was used to investigate the degradability of some celluloses having varying degrees of crystallinity. The PTC of an aerobic culture of Cellulomonas uda ATCC 21399 obtained revealed a diauxic growth which is attributed to the presence of hemicellulose contaminating Avicel and MN300 cellulose. The microcrystalline celluloses used were not completely utilized, whereas amorphous cellulose was easily metabolized, indicating that under the growth conditions used here, the physical structure of cellulose strongly influenced its microbial degradability. An equivalent growth yield of ca. 0.44 g/g was found with all the substrates used. The heat evolved by metabolism of 1 g cellulose was -5.86 kJ/g, a value similar to that obtained with glucose culture. The growth rate was the only variable parameter. The data obtained showed as expected that the hydrolysis product of cellulose was consumed in the same way as that of glucose and that the only limiting factor to the biodegradability of cellulose was the breakdown of the polymeric substrate. It is concluded that data obtained with glucose metabolism can be used to evaluate the extent of cellulose degradation.