Adherence of the gram-positive bacterium Ruminococcus albus to cellulose and identification of a novel form of cellulose-binding protein which belongs to the Pil family of proteins.

ABSTRACT: The adherence of Ruminococcus albus 8 to crystalline cellulose was studied, and an affinity-based assay was also used to identify candidate cellulose-binding protein(s). Bacterial adherence in cellulose-binding assays was significantly increased by the inclusion of either ruminal fluid or micromolar concentrations of both phenylacetic and phenylpropionic acids in the growth medium, and the addition of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) to assays decreased the adherence of the bacterium to cellulose. A cellulose-binding protein with an estimated molecular mass following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of approximately 21 kDa, designated CbpC, was present in both cellobiose- and cellulose-grown cultures, and the relative abundance of this protein increased in response to

SUBMITTER: Pegden RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC107666 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature