Open AccessIncrease in proteinase activity in the cellular slime mould Polysphondylium pallidum induced by bacteria
Author(s) -
North Michael J.,
Roper Anne M.,
Walker Marion
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1984.tb00206.x
Subject(s) - slime mold , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , chemistry , genetics
Polysphondylium pallidum strain PPHU8 grown in association with bacteria contains aspartic and cysteine proteinases. When myxamoebae were grown in axenic medium the contribution of cysteine proteinases was much lower. The proteinase activity could be altered by addition of heat‐killed bacteria to axenically growing cells. This was detected as an increase in the specific activity towards N ‐benzoyl‐L‐prolyl‐L‐phenylalanyl‐L‐arginine‐ p ‐nitroanilide, a cysteine proteinase substrate, and by the appearance of cysteine proteinase bands after electrophoretic analysis. The changes were inhibited by cycloheximide, azide and dinitrophenol. All the available evidence suggests that they are due to the de novo synthesis of cysteine proteinases.