Isolation of a yeast‐lyzing Arthrobacter species and the production of the lytic enzyme complex in batch and continuous‐flow fermentors

A gram‐negative bacterium strongly lytic toward living cells of the food yeast Saccharomyces fragilis was isolated by continuous‐flow enrichment from compost. The organism was identified as a species of Arthrobacter . The extracellular lytic enzyme complex produced by this bacterium contained β‐1,3‐glucanase, mannan mannohydrolase, and proteolytic activities. The polysaccharases were inducible by whole yeast cells. In chemostat cultures on chemically defined media, synthesis of the polysaccharases was very slight and only detectable at dilution rates below 0.02 hr −1 . Enzyme production in defined media was not solely dependent on growth rate but also was influenced by the growth limiting substrate and the culture history. The production of individual depolymerases and of the lytic activity was studied in batch and chemostat cultures containing yeast as the limiting substrate. The maximum specific growth rate of the Arthrobacter under these conditions was 0.22 hr −1 . β‐1,3‐Glucanase and proteolytic activities were synthesized by exponentially growing bacteria but maximum lytic titers did not develop until the specific growth rate was declining, at which time mannan mannohydrolase syntheses was induced. In yeast limited chemostats polysaccharase syntheses were greatest at the lowest dilution rates examined, namely 0.02 hr −1 . Further optimization of enzyme production was achieved by feeding the Arthrobacter culture to a second‐stage chemostat. A comparison of lytic enzyme productivities in batch and chemostat cultures has been made.