THE CELLULOSOME - A TREASURE-TROVE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY

The cellulases of many cellulolytic bacteria are organized into discre te multienzyme complexes, called cellulosomes. The multiple subunits o f cellulosomes are composed of numerous functional domains, which inte ract with each other and with the cellulosic substrate. One of these s ubunits comprises a distinctive new class of noncatalytic scaffolding polypeptide, which selectively integrates the various cellulase and xy lanase subunits into the cohesive complex. Intelligent application of cellulosome hybrids and chimeric constructs of cellulosomal domains sh ould enable better use of cellulosic biomass and may offer a wide rang e of novel applications in research, medicine and industry.