Difference between revisions of "Cellulase (Karen Hasty)"

Revision as of 00:56, 9 September 2009

What is cellulase? Cellulase is a family of enzymes that break down cellulose or the main component of plant cell walls. Cellulose is also sometimes secreted by bacteria in order to form biofilms. It is interesting to note that the wikipedia explanation of cellulase states that all other kinds of organisms (eukaryotes, plants, bacteria, and fungi) have this enzyme, yet nothing is mentioned about archaea. Regardless, JGI has called a gene cellulase in our species, and now we must decide whether this gene was called correctly. If it is called correctly, why would an archeae species have cellulase? Are these organisms secreting this enzyme in order to degrade plant cells to gain energy from these cells or is something else entirely going on?

Shine-delgarno sequence