Cellulases released during the germination of Dictyostelium discoideum spores

Dormant spores of Dictyostelium discoideum contained cellulase at a specific activity of 130 to 140 U/mg of protein; when heat activated, the spores germinated, progressively releasing the cellulase activity into the extracellular medium. The cellulase release was a selective process and resulted in recovery of the cellulase activity at a specific activity of 2,000 U/mg of protein; beta-glucosidase in the spores remained completely associated with the emerging amoebae. Release of the cellulase required heat activation of the spores and occurred during the swelling stage of germination; inhibition of the emergence stage with cycloheximide had no effect on the release of the cellulase. The cellulase activity released consisted of two enzymes whose molecular weights were 136,000 and 69,000. Studies of their pH optima, heat lability, and of their sensitivity to inhibition revealed no distinctive differences between these two proteins. Analysis on diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex columns showed that the higher-molecular-weight protein could be converted into the lower-molecular-weight component in vitro.