Degradation of the framework of the Chlamydomonas cell wall by proteases present in a commercially available alpha-amylase preparation.

A commercially available alpha-amylase derived from Bacillus licheniformis contained an enzymatic activity able to degrade the inner portion or framework of the cell wall of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Both the wall-degrading activity and the contaminating protease were destroyed by heating the alpha-amylase preparation at 90 degrees C for 30 min. Since the alpha-amylase activity was uneffected by heat treatment, we conclude that it was not the alpha-amylase but the contaminating protease in the preparation that was responsible for the cell wall-degrading activity.