Enzyme production by species of Cephalosporium.

The culture filtrates of ten species of Cephalosporium, which had been grown under conditions of submerged culture, were tested for enzymatic activity against each of seven substrates. The latter included casein, gelatin, milk, hemoglobin, human plasma clots, starch, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide. All organisms tested were active, but to varying degrees. The most pronounced activities were obtained against the proteinaceous substrates. Two unidentified species of Cephalosporium exhibited the highest over-all activities, but no one organism predominated for all enzymatic functions. The ability of a filtrate to degrade a specific substrate was not always correlated with its ability to attack other substrates. The fibrinolytic properties of three of the cephalosporia were of particular interest. alpha-Amylase activity was not significant. The results obtained suggest the possible use of selected species of Cephalosporium as sources of a variety of microbial enzymes.