Influence of Temperature on the Autolytic Phase of Growth of Aspergillus niger

The variation in the extent to which autolysis of Aspergillusniger van Tieghem occurs in response to alteration of temperatureand of the length of the period of autolysis has been studied.The degree of autolysis at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 °Cwas 15–8, 23–9, 35–2, 40–8, 49–1and 56–2 per cent, respectively. Autolysis increased sharplywith the length of the period of autolysis reaching a plateautowards the second day at the lowest temperatures (0–20°C) and towards the fourth day at the higher temperatures.Theextent of the increase of autolysis plotted against temperatureindicates a linear relationship between these two parameters.The release of protein from autolysing mycelium of A. nigeris greatly affected by temperature, amounting to 1–9 percent at 10 °C, whereas at 30 °C it reached 5–1per cent. On the other hand, gradual increase of temperatureduring autolysis seems not to alter the content of mycelialcarbohydrates of A. niger.