The xylanolytic fraction from a 72h culture of Clostridium xylanolyticum ROGERS and BAECKER was separated using non-denaturing PAGE and then used to raise polyvalent antisera in rabbits. Antibodies were purified using an affinity gel column and coniugated with colloidal gold. Pinus patula was exposed to axenic cultures of Clostridium xylanolyticum for 3 weeks, fixed, embedded and converted to ultrathin sections. The sections were exposed to the gold-conjugated antibody complex. Electron microscopical examination showed comparatively high numbers of gold colloids localised at sites in the wood where bacterial degradation had occurred, confirming that Clostridium xylanolyticum had produced an extracellular xylanase during the decay process observed.

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