Use of Lipase and Strepzyme for the Isolation of ‘Protoplasts’ from Fungal Mycelium

Abstract

THE isolation of protoplasts from bacteria¹, vegetative fungal cells^2–4 and plant tissues⁵, following the use of enzymes digesting the cell wall, suggested that protoplast-like bodies might be obtained from resistant spore forms of fungi. It has recently been shown in this laboratory that free ‘protoplasts’ are also obtained when conidia of Trichothecium roseum⁶ and Fusarium culmorum⁷ are incubated in a solution containing the lytic enzyme preparation. Age of the spores seemed to be important for the digestion of the cell walls; under appropriate conditions, using young spores (3–4 days old), more than 90 per cent of the suspended conidia were transformed into ‘protoplasts’. It was then suggested that spore piotoplasts represent a satisfactory starting material for obtaining suspensions of free uniform protoplasts.