EFFECT OF CARBON-SOURCES ON CHITOBIASE PRODUCTION BY TRICHODERMA-HARZIANUM

The production of chitinolytic enzymes by Trichoderma is of interest in relation to their use in biocontrol and as a source of mycolytic enzymes. The chitinolytic system of T. harzianum resembles that of most chitinolytic organisms and consists of two types of hydrolases: chitinase and chitobiase. Both enzymes are produced when T harzianum is grown on a chitin-containing medium and repressed when the mycelium is provided with an easily metabolized carbon source such as glucose or N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). Chitobiase is also produced in GlcNAc-containing medium.