Red Yeast Cell Lysis by Red Yeast Cell Wall Lytic Enzyme and Protease

The purified red yeast cell wall lytic enzyme of Penicillium lilacinum No. 2093 has a potent saccharifying activity against cell walls, but the living cell lytic activity of it is considerably lower than that of the culture filtrate. Therefore, the living cell lytic factors in the culture filtrate were examined. The alkaline protease of Pen. lilacinum played an important role for living cell lysis. The synergistic effect on living cell lysis was also detected, when acid proteases from various origins were combined with the cell wall lytic enzyme. These results indicated that the protein layers of red yeast cell surface inhibited the action of a glycanase,cell wall lytic enzyme, and the protein molecule contributed to retain the rigid structure of the wall.