The cell wall-associated inulinase of Kluyveromyces fragilis

The yeast Kluyveromyces fragilis (ATCC 12424) was grown on a 2% inulin-1% yeast extract medium for 36 h and subsequently fixed with 0.5% glutaraldehyde. The glutaraldehyde treatment did not affect the beta-fructofuranosidase (inulinase, EC 3.2.1.7) activity of the cells but it did make the cells resistant to chemical and physical treatments that normally release beta-fructofuranosidase from untreated cells. The enzyme in the treated cells exhibited Km values for sucrose and raffinose identical to those obtained for the free enzyme. The cell wall of the treated cells exhibited the same diffusion properties for sucrose, raffinose, and inulin as those observed for untreated cells. The beta-fructofuranosidase was not bound covalently to the cell by the glutaraldehyde treatment. The results support the permeability barrier model for the enzyme retention in the yeast cell wall.