Cultivation on cellophane agar as a method for the assay of bacterial enzymes

Production of bacterial enzymes in a liquid medium and on cellophane-agar plates is compared. Using neutral proteinase, urease, alpha-amylase and thiosulfate sulfurtransferase as examples it was demonstrated that the cultivation on cellophane-agar plates yields higher concentrations of the enzymes and that the enzyme production is detected in a higher number of cultures. The method might be useful for the characterization of bacterial communities.