EP0577722A1 - Procede de traitement par la cellulase des tissus contenant du coton - Google Patents

Procede de traitement par la cellulase des tissus contenant du coton

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Publication number
EP0577722A1
EP0577722A1 EP92909253A EP92909253A EP0577722A1 EP 0577722 A1 EP0577722 A1 EP 0577722A1 EP 92909253 A EP92909253 A EP 92909253A EP 92909253 A EP92909253 A EP 92909253A EP 0577722 A1 EP0577722 A1 EP 0577722A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cellulase
cbh
components
cotton
type components
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP92909253A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0577722A4 (fr
Inventor
Kathleen A. Clarkson
Edward Larenas
Geoffrey L. Weiss
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Danisco US Inc
Original Assignee
Genencor International Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Genencor International Inc filed Critical Genencor International Inc
Publication of EP0577722A1 publication Critical patent/EP0577722A1/fr
Publication of EP0577722A4 publication Critical patent/EP0577722A4/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
    • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
    • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
    • C11D3/16—Organic compounds
    • C11D3/38—Products with no well-defined composition, e.g. natural products
    • C11D3/386—Preparations containing enzymes, e.g. protease or amylase
    • C11D3/38645—Preparations containing enzymes, e.g. protease or amylase containing cellulase
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
    • D06M16/00—Biochemical treatment of fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, e.g. enzymatic
    • D06M16/003—Biochemical treatment of fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, e.g. enzymatic with enzymes or microorganisms

Definitions

  • the present invention is directed to improved methods for treating cotton-containing fabrics with cellulase as well as to the fabrics produced from these methods.
  • the improved methods of the present invention are directed to contacting cotton-containing fabrics with an aqueous solution containing a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and which contains low concentrations of CBH I type components.
  • a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and which contains low concentrations of CBH I type components.
  • the resulting fabric possesses the expected enhancements in, for example, feel, appearance, and/or softening, etc., as compared to the fabric prior to treatment and the fabric also possesses decreased strength loss as compared to the fabric treated with a cellulase composition containing higher concentrations of CBH I type components.
  • cotton-containing fabrics can be treated with cellulase in order to impart desirable properties to the fabric.
  • cellulase has been used to improve the feel and/or appearance of cotton-containing fabrics, to remove surface fibers from cotton-containing knits, for imparting a stone washed appearance to cotton- containing denims and the like.
  • Japanese Patent Application Nos. 58-36217 and 58-54032 as well as Ohishi et al., "Reformation of Cotton Fabric by Cellulase” and JTN December 1988 journal article "What's New — Weight Loss Treatment to Soften the Touch of Cotton Fabric” each disclose that treatment of cotton-containing fabrics with cellulase results in an improved feel for the fabric. It is generally believed that this cellulase treatment removes cotton fuzzing and/or surface fibers which reduces the weight of the fabric. The combination of these effects imparts improved feel to the fabric, i.e., the fabric feels more like silk.
  • a common problem associated with the treatment of such cotton-containing fabrics with a cellulase solution is that the treated fabrics exhibit significant strength loss as compared to the untreated fabric. Strength loss arises because the cellulase hydrolyzes cellulose ( ⁇ -l,4-glucan linkages) which, in turn, can result in a breakdown of a portion of the cotton polymer. As more and more cotton polymers are disrupted (brokendown) , the tensile strength of the fabric is reduced.
  • fungal sources of cellulase are known to secrete very large quantities of cellulase and further because fermentation procedures for such fungal sources as well as isolation and purification procedures for isolating the cellulase are well known in the art, it would be particularly advantageous to use such fungal cellulases in the methods for improving feel and/or appearance.
  • the present invention is directed to the discovery that heretofore known methods for treating cotton-containing fabrics with fungal cellulases can be improved by employing a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and which contains sufficiently low concentrations of CBH I.
  • EG type components are capable of imparting enhancements to the treated fabric with regard to feel, appearance, softness, color enhancement, and/or a stone washed appearance as compared to fabric before treatment with such a cellulase composition.
  • it has been found that it is the CBH I type components in combination with the EG type components which account for a sizable portion of the strength loss in the treated fabric.
  • the cellulase composition employed to treat cotton-containing fabrics is tailored so as to contain sufficiently low concentrations of CBH I type components so as to be strength loss resistant.
  • the present invention is directed to an improved method for the treatment of cotton- containing fabrics with a fungal cellulase composition
  • said improvement comprises employing a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and one or more CBH I type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH I type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the fungal cellulase composition employed herein comprises one or more EG type components and one or more CBH type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the fungal cellulase composition comprises at least about 10 weight percent and preferably at least about 20, weight percent of EG components based on the total weight of protein in the cellulase composition.
  • the present invention is directed to an improved method for the treatment of cotton-containing fabrics with an aqueous fungal cellulase solution wherein said method is conducted with agitation of the cellulase solution under conditions so as to produce a cascading effect of the cellulase solution over the fabric wherein said improvement comprises employing a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and one or more CBH I type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH I type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the fungal cellulase composition employed herein comprises one or more EG type components and one or more CBH type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the fungal cellulase composition comprises at least about 10 weight percent and preferably at least about 20 weight percent of EG components based on the total weight of protein in the cellulase composition.
  • Cotton-containing fabrics treated by the methods of this invention have the expected enhancement(s) as compared to the fabric prior to treatment while exhibiting reduced strength loss as compared to the fabric treated with a fungal cellulase composition containing greater amounts of CBH I type components.
  • the reduced strength loss evidences that the methods of this invention are strength loss resistant.
  • the present invention is directed to a cotton-containing fabric treated in the methods of this invention as defined above.
  • FIG. 1 is an outline of the construction of p ⁇ CBHIpyr4.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates deletion of the T_. reesei gene by integration of the larger EcoRI fragment from p ⁇ CBHlpyr4 at the cbhl locus on one of the T. reesei chromosomes.
  • FIG. 3 is an autoradiograph of DNA from T. reesei strain GC69 transformed with EcoRI digested p ⁇ CBHIpyr4 after Southern blot analysis using a 32 P labelled p ⁇ CBHlpyr4 as the probe.
  • the sizes of molecular weight markers are shown in kilobase pairs to the left of the Figure.
  • FIG. 4 is an autoradiograph of DNA from a T_j. reesei strain GC69 transformed with EcoRI digested p ⁇ CBHIpyr4 using a 32 P labelled plntCBHI as the probe.
  • the sizes of molecular weight markers are shown in kilobase pairs to the left of the Figure.
  • FIG. 5 is an isoelectric focusing gel displaying the proteins secreted by the wild type and by transformed strains of T ⁇ . reesei.
  • Lane A of the isoelectric focusing gel employs partially purified CBHI from T. reesei: Lane B employs a wild type __. reesei : Lane C employs protein from a _. reesei strain with the cbhl gene deleted; and Lane D employs protein from a T. reesei strain with the cbhl and cbh2 genes deleted.
  • the right hand side of the figure is marked to indicate the location of the single proteins found in one or more of the secreted proteins.
  • BG refers to the ⁇ - glucosidase.
  • El refers to endoglucanase I
  • E2 refers to endoglucanase II
  • E3 refers to endoglucanase III
  • Cl refers to exo-cellobiohydrolase I
  • C2 refers to exo-cellobiohydrolase II.
  • FIG. 6A is a representation of the T. reesei cbh2 locus, cloned as a 4.1 kb EcoRI fragment on genomic DNA and FIG. 6B is a representation of the cbh2 gene deletion vector pP ⁇ CBHII.
  • FIG. 7 is an autoradiograph of DNA from T. reesei strain P37P ⁇ CBHIPyr"26 transformed with EcoRI digested pP ⁇ CBHII after Southern blot analysis using a 32 P labelled pP ⁇ CBHII as the probe.
  • the sizes of molecular weight markers are shown in kilobase pairs to the left of the Figure.
  • FIG. 8 is a diagram of the plasmid pEGI ⁇ yr4.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates the RBB-CMC activity profile of an acidic EG enriched fungal cellulase composition (CBH I and II deleted) derived from
  • Trichoderma reesei over a pH range at 40°C Trichoderma reesei over a pH range at 40°C; as well as the activity profile of an enriched EG III cellulase composition derived from Trichoderma reesei over a pH range at 40°C.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates strength loss results after three wash cycles in a launderometer for cotton-containing fabrics treated with cellulase compositions having varying amounts of CBH components.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates fiber removal results (based on panel test scores) for cotton-containing fabrics treated with cellulase secreted by a wild type Trichoderma reesei (whole cellulase) at various pHs.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates fiber removal results (based on panel test scores) for cotton-containing fabrics treated with varying concentrations (in ppm) of cellulase secreted by a wild type Trichoderma reesei and for a cotton fabric treated with cellulase secreted by a strain of Trichoderma reesei genetically engineered so as to be incapable of secreting CBH I and CBH II.
  • FIG. 13 illustrates the softness panel test results for varying concentrations (in ppm) of an EG enriched cellulase composition derived from a strain of Trichoderma reesei genetically modified so as to be incapable of producing CBHI&II.
  • FIG. 14 is a diagram of the site specific alterations made in the eqll and cbhl genes to create convenient restriction endonuclease cleavage sites.
  • the upper line shows the original DNA sequence
  • the changes introduced are shown in the middle line
  • the new sequence is shown in the lower line.
  • FIG. 15 is a diagram of the larger EcoRI fragment which can be obtained from pCEPCl.
  • FIG. 16 is an autoradiograph of DNA, from an untransformed strain of T. reesei RutC30 and from two transformants obtained by transforming T ⁇ reesei with EcoRI digested pCEPCl.
  • the DNA was digested with Pstl.
  • a Southern blot was obtained and hybridized with 3 P labelled pUC4K: :cbhl. The sizes of marker DNA fragments are shown in kilobase pairs to the left of the Figure.
  • FIG. 17 is a diagram of the plas id pEGII::P-l.
  • FIG 18. is an autoradiograph of DNA from T. reesei strain P37P ⁇ 67P _ 1 transformed with Hindlll and BamHI digested pEGII::P-l.
  • a Southern blot was prepared and the DNA was hybridized with an approximately 4kb Pstl fragment of radiolabelled T.reesei DNA containing the eql3 gene.
  • Lanes A, C and E contain DNA from the untransformed strain whereas.
  • Lanes B, D and F contain DNA from the untransformed T__ reesei strain.
  • the T.reesei DNA was digested with Bglll in Lanes A and B, with EcoRV in Lanes C and D and with Pstl in Lanes E and F. The size of marker DNA fragments are shown in kilobase pairs to the left of the Figure.
  • FIG. 19 is a diagram of the plasmid pP ⁇ EGI-1.
  • FIG. 20 is an autoradiograph of a Southern blot of DNA isolated from transformants of strain GC69 obtained with Hindlll digested p ⁇ EGIpyr-3.
  • the pattern of hybridisation with the probe, radiolabelled p ⁇ EGIpyr-3, expected for an untransformed strain is shown in Lane C.
  • Lane A shows the pattern expected for a transformant in which the eqll gene has been disrupted
  • Lane B shows a transformant in which p ⁇ EGIpyr-3 DNA has integrated into the genome but without disrupting the e ⁇ ll gene.
  • Lane D contains p ⁇ EGIpyr-3 digested with Hindlll to provide appropriate size markers. The sizes of marker DNA fragments are shown in kilobase pairs to the right of the figure.
  • the methods of this invention are improvements in prior art methods for treating cotton-containing fabrics with cellulase.
  • the improvement comprises using a specific cellulase composition which imparts the desired enhancement(s) to the fabric while minimizing strength loss in the fabric.
  • cotton-containing fabric refers to sewn or unsewn fabrics made of pure cotton or cotton blends including cotton woven fabrics, cotton knits, cotton denims, cotton yarns and the like.
  • the amount of cotton in the fabric should be at least about 40 percent by weight cotton; preferably, more than about 60 percent by weight cotton; and most preferably, more than about 75 percent by weight cotton.
  • the companion material employed in the fabric can include one or more non-cotton fibers including synthetic fibers such as polya ide fibers (for example, nylon 6 and nylon 66) , acrylic fibers (for example, polyacrylonitrile fibers) , and polyester fibers (for example, polyethylene terephthalate) , polyvinyl alcohol fibers (for example, Vinylon) , polyvinyl chloride fibers, polyvinylidene chloride fibers, polyurethane fibers, polyurea fibers and ara id fibers. It is contemplated that regenerated cellulose, such as rayon, could be used as a substitute for cotton in the methods of this invention.
  • synthetic fibers such as polya ide fibers (for example, nylon 6 and nylon 66) , acrylic fibers (for example, polyacrylonitrile fibers) , and polyester fibers (for example, polyethylene terephthalate) , polyvinyl alcohol fibers (for example, Vinylon) , polyvinyl chloride fibers, poly
  • finishing means the application of a sufficient amount of finish to a cotton-containing fabric so as to substantially prevent cellulolytic activity of the cellulase on the fabric. Finishes are generally applied at or near the end of the manufacturing process of the fabric for the purpose of enhancing the properties of the fabric, for example, softness, drapability, etc. , which additionally protects the fabric from reaction with cellulases. Finishes useful for finishing a cotton-containing fabric are well known in the art and include resinous materials, such as mela ine, glyoxal, or ureafor aldehyde, as well as waxes, silicons, fluoroche icals and quaternaries. When so finished, the cotton-containing fabric is substantially less reactive to cellulase.
  • fungal cellulase refers to the enzyme composition derived from fungal sources or microorganisms genetically modified so as to incorporate and express all or part of the cellulase genes obtained from a fungal source.
  • Fungal cellulases act on cellulose and its derivatives to hydrolyze cellulose and give primary products, glucose and cellobiose.
  • Fungal cellulases are distinguished from cellulases produced from non-fungal sources including microorganisms such as actinomycetes, gliding bacteria (myxobacteria) and true bacteria. Fungi capable of producing cellulases useful in preparing cellulase compositions described herein are disclosed in British Patent
  • fungal cellulases generally have their optimum activity in the acidic or neutral pH range although some fungal cellulases are known to possess significant activity under neutral and slightly alkaline conditions, i.e., for example, cellulase derived from Humicola insolens is known to have activity in neutral to slightly alkaline conditions.
  • Fungal cellulases are known to be comprised of several enzyme classifications having different substrate specificity, enzymatic action patterns, and the like. Additionally, enzyme components within each classification can exhibit different molecular weights, different degrees of glycosylation, different isoelectric points, different substrate specificity etc.
  • fungal cellulases can contain cellulase classifications which include endoglucanases (EGs) , exo-cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) , 3-gluc ⁇ sidases (BGs) , etc.
  • a fungal cellulase composition produced by a naturally occurring fungal source and which comprises one or more CBH and EG components wherein each of these components is found at the ratio produced by the fungal source is sometimes referred to herein as a "complete fungal cellulase system" or a “complete fungal cellulase composition” to distinguish it from the classifications and components of cellulase isolated therefrom, from incomplete cellulase compositions produced by bacteria and some fungi, or from a cellulase composition obtained from a microorganism genetically modified so as to overproduce, underproduce, or not produce one or more of the CBH and/or EG components of cellulase.
  • cellulase systems can be produced either by solid or submerged culture, including batch, fed-batch and continuous-flow processes.
  • the collection and purification of the cellulase systems from the fermentation broth can also be effected by procedures known per se in the art.
  • Endoglucanase (“EG”) type components refer to all of those fungal cellulase components or combination of components which exhibit textile activity properties similar to the endoglucanase components of Trichoderma reesei.
  • the endoglucanase components of Trichoderma reesei (specifically, EG I, EG II, EG III, and the like either alone or in combination) impart improved feel, improved appearance, softening, color enhancement, and/or a stone washed appearance to cotton-containing fabrics (as compared to the fabric prior to treatment) when these components are incorporated into a textile treatment medium and the fabric is treated with this medium.
  • treatment of cotton-containing fabrics with endoglucanase components of Trichoderma reesei results in less strength loss as compared to the strength loss arising from treatment with a similar composition but which additionally contains CBH I type components.
  • endoglucanase type components are those fungal cellulase components which impart improved feel, improved appearance, softening, color enhancement, and/or a stone washed appearance to cotton-containing fabrics (as compared to the fabric before treatment) when these components are incorporated into a medium used to treat the fabrics and which impart reduced strength loss to cotton- containing fabrics as compared to the strength loss arising from treatment with a similar cellulase composition but which additionally contains CBH I type components.
  • Such endoglucanase type components may not include components traditionally classified as endoglucanases using activity tests such as the ability of the component (a) to hydrolyze soluble cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) , thereby reducing the viscosity of CMC containing solutions, (b) to readily hydrolyze hydrated forms of cellulose such as phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (e.g., Walseth cellulose) and hydrolyze less readily the more highly crystalline forms of cellulose (e.g., Avicel, Solkafloc, etc.).
  • activity tests such as the ability of the component (a) to hydrolyze soluble cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) , thereby reducing the viscosity of CMC containing solutions, (b) to readily hydrolyze hydrated forms of cellulose such as phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (e.g., Walseth cellulose) and hydrolyze less readily the more highly crystalline forms of cellulose (e.
  • endoglucanase type components as those components of fungal cellulase which possess similar textile activity properties as possessed by the endoglucanase components of Trichoderma reesei.
  • Fungal cellulases can contain more than one EG type component.
  • the different components generally have different isoelectric points, different molecular weights, different degrees of glycosylation, different substrate specificity, different enzymatic action patterns, etc.
  • the different isoelectric points of the components allow for their separation via ion exchange chromatography and the like.
  • the isolation of components from different fungal sources is known in the art. See, for example, Bjork et al., U.S. Serial No. 07/422,814, Jrin et al.. International Application WO 89/09259, Wood et al.. Biochemistry and Genetics of Cellulose Degradation, pp. 31 to 52 (1988); Wood et al.. Carbohydrate Research, Vol.
  • EG type components may give a synergistic response in imparting enhancements to the cotton-containing fabrics as well as imparting reduced strength loss as compared to a single EG component.
  • a single EG type component may be more stable or have a broader spectrum of activity over a range of pHs.
  • the EG type components employed in this invention can be either a single EG type component or a combination of two or more EG type components. When a combination of components is employed, the EG type component may be derived from the same or different fungal sources.
  • EG type components can be derived from bacterially derived cellulases.
  • Exo-cellobiohydrolase type (“CBH type”) components refer to those fungal cellulase components which exhibit textile activity properties similar to CBH I and/or CBH II cellulase components of Trichoderma reesei.
  • CBH type Exo-cellobiohydrolase type
  • the CBH I and CBH II components of Trichoderma reesei alone do not impart any significant enhancements in feel, appearance, color enhancement and/or stone washed appearance to the so treated cotton-containing fabrics.
  • the CBH I component of Trichoderma reesei imparts enhanced strength loss to the cotton-containing fabrics.
  • CBH I type components and CBH II type components refer to those fungal cellulase components which exhibit textile activity properties similar to CBH I and CBH II components of Trichoderma reesei. respectively.
  • this includes the property of enhancing strength loss of cotton- containing fabrics when used in the presence of EG type components.
  • the CBH I type components of Trichoderma reesei can impart an incremental cleaning benefit.
  • the CBH I components of Trichoderma reesei. when used alone in or in combination with EG type components, can impart an incremental softening benefit.
  • exo-cellobiohydrolase type components could possibly not include components traditionally classed as exo-cellobiohydrolases using activity tests such as those used to characterize CBH I and CBH II from Trichoderma reesei.
  • such components (a) are competitively inhibited by cellobiose (K,- approximately ImM) ; (b) are unable to hydrolyze to any significant degree substituted celluloses, such as carboxymethylcellulose, etc., and (c) hydrolyze phosphoric acid swollen cellulose and to a lesser degree highly crystalline cellulose.
  • Fungal cellulase compositions having one or more EG type components and one or more CBH I type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH I type components of greater than 5:1 can be obtained by purification techniques.
  • the complete cellulase system can be purified into substantially pure components by recognized separation techniques well published in the literature, including ion exchange chromatography at a suitable pH, affinity chromatography, size exclusion and the like.
  • ion exchange chromatography usually anion exchange chromatography
  • the requisite amount of the desired components could be recombined.
  • mixtures of cellulase components having the requisite ratio of EG type components to CBH I type cellulase components could be prepared by means other than isolation and recombination of the components.
  • recombinant techniques can alter the relative ratio of EG type components to CBH type components so as to produce a mixture of cellulase components having a relatively high ratio of EG type components to CBH type components.
  • a preferred method for the preparation of cellulase compositions described herein is by genetically modifying a microorganism so as to overproduce one or more acidic EG type components.
  • a requisite amount of the cellulase produced by such modified microorganism could be combined with the cellulase produced by the natural microorganism (i.e., containing CBH I type components) so as to provide for a cellulase composition containing one or more EG type components and one or more CBH I type components wherein said cellulase composition has a protein weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH I type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the deletion of the genes responsible for producing CBH I type and/or CBH II type cellulase components would have the effect of enriching the amount of EG components present in the cellulase composition.
  • fungal cellulase compositions can be used herein from fungal sources which produce low concentrations of CBH I type components.
  • a requisite amount of one or more CBH I type components purified by conventional procedures can be added to a cellulase composition produced from a microorganism genetically engineered so as to be incapable of producing CBH I type components so as to achieve a specified ratio of EG type components to CBH I type components, i.e., a cellulase composition free of all CBH type components so as to be enriched in EG type components can be formulated to contain 2 weight percent of a CBH I type component (or CBH II type component) merely by adding this amount of a purified CBH I type component (or CBH II type component) to the cellulase composition.
  • ⁇ -Glucosidase (BG) components refer to those components of cellulase which exhibit BG activity; that is to say that such components will act from the non-reducing end of cellobiose and other soluble cellooligosaccharides ("cellobiose”) and give glucose as the sole product.
  • BG components do not adsorb onto or react with cellulose polymers. Furthermore, such BG components are competitively inhibited by glucose ( ; approximately ImM) .
  • BG components are not literally cellulases because they cannot degrade cellulose, such BG components are included within the definition of the cellulase system because these enzymes facilitate the overall degradation of cellulose by further degrading the inhibitory cellulose degradation products (particularly cellobiose) produced by the combined action of CBH components and EG components. Without the presence of BG components, moderate or little hydrolysis of crystalline cellulose will occur.
  • BG components are often characterized on aryl substrates such as p-nitrophenol B-D-glucoside (PNPG) and thus are often called aryl-glucosidases. It should be noted that not all aryl glucosidases are BG components, in that some do not hydrolyze cellobiose.
  • PNPG p-nitrophenol B-D-glucoside
  • the presence or absence of BG components in the cellulase composition can be used to regulate the activity of any CBH components in the composition. Specifically, because cellobiose is produced during cellulose degradation by CBH components, and because high concentrations of cellobiose are known to inhibit CBH activity, and further because such cellobiose is hydrolyzed to glucose by BG components, the absence of BG components in the cellulase composition will "turn-off" CBH activity when the concentration of cellobiose reaches inhibitory levels.
  • one or more additives can be added to the cellulase composition to effectively "turn-off", directly or indirectly, some or all of the CBH I type activity as well as other CBH activity.
  • the resulting composition is considered to be a composition suitable for use in this invention if the amount of additive employed is sufficient to lower the CBH I type activity to levels equal to or less than the CBH I type activity levels achieved by using the cellulase compositions described herein.
  • a cellulase composition containing added amounts of BG components may increase overall hydrolysis of cellulose if the level of cellobiose generated by the CBH components becomes restrictive of such overall hydrolysis in the absence of added BG components.
  • Fungal cellulases can contain more than one BG component.
  • the different components generally have different isoelectric points which allow for their separation via ion exchange chromatography and the like. Either a single BG component or a combination of BG components can be employed.
  • the BG component When employed in textile treatment solutions, the BG component is generally added in an amount sufficient to prevent inhibition by cellobiose of any CBH and EG components found in the cellulase composition.
  • the amount of BG component added depends upon the amount of cellobiose produced in the textile composition which can be readily determined by the skilled artisan.
  • the weight percent of BG component relative to any CBH type components present in the cellulase composition is preferably from about 0.2 to about 10 weight percent and more preferably, from about 0.5 to about 5 weight percent.
  • Preferred fungal cellulases for use in preparing the fungal cellulase compositions used in this invention are those obtained from Trichoderma reesei. Trichoderma koningii. Pencillum sp.
  • CELLUCAST available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • RAPIDASE available from Gist Brocades, N.V., Delft, Holland
  • CYTOLASE 123 available from Genencor International, South San Francisco
  • fungal cellulases can be readily isolated by art recognized fermentation and isolation procedures.
  • buffer refers to art recognized acid/base reagents which stabilize the cellulase solution against undesired pH shifts during the cellulase treatment of the cotton-containing fabric.
  • cellulase activity is pH dependent. That is to say that a specific cellulase composition will exhibit cellulolytic activity within a defined pH range with optimal cellulolytic activity generally being found within a small portion of this defined range.
  • the specific pH range for cellulolytic activity will vary with each cellulase composition. As noted above, while most cellulases will exhibit cellulolytic activity within an acidic to neutral pH profile, there are some cellulase compositions which exhibit cellulolytic activity in an alkaline pH profile.
  • the pH of the initial cellulase solution could be outside the range required for cellulase activity. It is further possible for the pH to change during treatment of the cotton-containing fabric, for example, by the generation of a reaction product which alters the pH of the solution. In either event, the pH of an unbuffered cellulase solution could be outside the range required for cellulolytic activity. When this occurs, undesired reduction or cessation of cellulolytic activity in the cellulase solution occurs.
  • a cellulase having an acidic activity profile is employed in a neutral unbuffered aqueous solution, then the pH of the solution will result in lower cellulolytic activity and possibly in the cessation of cellulolytic activity.
  • the use of a cellulase having a neutral or alkaline pH profile in a neutral unbuffered aqueous solution should initially provide significant cellulolytic activity.
  • the pH of the cellulase solution should be maintained within the range required for cellulolytic activity.
  • One means of accomplishing this is by simply monitoring the pH of the system and adjusting the pH as required by the addition of either an acid or a base.
  • the pH of the system is preferably maintained within the desired pH range by the use of a buffer in the cellulase solution.
  • a sufficient amount of buffer is employed so as to maintain the pH of the solution within the range wherein the employed cellulase exhibits activity.
  • the specific buffer employed is selected in relationship to the specific cellulase composition employed.
  • the buffer(s) selected for use with the cellulase composition employed can be readily determined by the skilled artisan taking into account the pH range and optimum for the cellulase composition employed as well as the pH of the cellulase solution.
  • the buffer employed is one which is compatible with the cellulase composition and which will maintain the pH of the cellulase solution within the pH range required for optimal activity.
  • Suitable buffers include sodium citrate, ammonium acetate, sodium acetate, disodium phosphate, and any other art recognized buffers.
  • the tensile strength of cotton-containing fabrics can be measured in a warp and fill direction which are at right angles to each other. Accordingly, the term "warp tensile strength” as used herein refers to the tensile strength of the cotton-containing fabric as measured along the length of the cotton-containing fabric whereas the term “fill tensile strength” refers to the tensile strength of the cotton-containing fabric as measured across the width of the cotton-containing fabric.
  • the tensile strength of the resulting cotton- containing fabric treated with a cellulase solution is compared to its tensile strength prior to treatment with the cellulase solution so as to determine the strength reducing effect of the treatment.
  • the tensile strength of cotton-containing fabrics is readily conducted following ASTM D1682 test methodology.
  • Equipment suitable for testing the tensile strength of such fabrics include a Scott tester or an Instron tester, both of which are commercially available.
  • Enhancements to the cotton-containing fabric is achieved by those methods heretofore used.
  • cotton-containing fabrics having improved feel can be achieved as per Japanese Patent Application Nos. 58-36217 and 58-54032 as well as Ohishi et al., "Reformation of Cotton Fabric by Cellulase” and JTN December 1988 journal article “What's New — Weight Loss Treatment to Soften the Touch of Cotton Fabric”.
  • Ohishi et al. "Reformation of Cotton Fabric by Cellulase” and JTN December 1988 journal article “What's New — Weight Loss Treatment to Soften the Touch of Cotton Fabric”.
  • the teachings of each of these references is incorporated herein by reference.
  • methods for improving both the feel and appearance of cotton-containing fabrics include contacting the fabric with an aqueous solution containing cellulase under conditions so that the solution is agitated and so that a cascading effect of the cellulase solution over the cotton-containing fabric is achieved.
  • Such methods result in improved feel and appearance of the so treated cotton- containing fabric and are described in U.S. Serial No. 07/598,506, filed October 16, 1990 and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • the present invention is an improvement over prior art methods for treating cotton-containing fabrics insofar as the present invention employs a specific cellulase composition which minimizes strength loss in the treated fabric.
  • the cellulase composition employed herein is a fungal cellulase composition which comprises one or more EG type components and one or more CBH type components wherein the cellulase composition has a weight ratio of all EG type components to all CBH type components of greater than 5:1.
  • the use of the cellulase compositions described herein also result in fabric/color enhancement of stressed cotton- containing fabrics.
  • the fabric can become stressed and when so stressed, it will contain broken and disordered fibers. Such fibers detrimentally impart a worn and dull appearance to the fabric.
  • the so stressed fabric is subject to fabric/color enhancement. This is believed to arise by removal of some of the broken and disordered fibers which has the effect of restoring the appearance of the fabric prior to becoming stressed.
  • these cellulase compositions will cause less redeposition of dye. It is also contemplated that these anti-redeposition properties can be enhanced for one or more specific EG type component(s) as compared to other components.
  • the fungal cellulase compositions described above are employed in an aqueous solution which contains cellulase and other optional ingredients including, for example, a buffer, a surfactant, a scouring agent, and the like.
  • concentration of the cellulase composition employed in this solution is generally a concentration sufficient for its intended purpose. That is to say that an amount of the cellulase composition is employed to provide the desired enhancement(s) to the cotton-containing fabric.
  • the amount of the cellulase composition employed is also dependent on the equipment employed, the process parameters employed (the temperature of the cellulase solution, the exposure time to the cellulase solution, and the like) , the cellulase activity (e.g., a cellulase solution will require a lower concentration of a more active cellulase composition as compared to a less active cellulase composition) , and the like.
  • concentration of the cellulase composition can be readily determined by the skilled artisan based on the above factors as well as the desired effect.
  • the concentration of the cellulase composition in the cellulase solution employed herein is from about 0.01 gram/liter of cellulase solution to about 10.0 grams/liter of cellulase solution; and more preferably, from about 0.05 grams/liter of cellulase solution to about 2 gram/liter of cellulase solution.
  • the cellulase concentration recited above refers to the weight of total protein
  • the concentration of buffer in the aqueous cellulase solution is that which is sufficient to maintain the pH of the solution within the range wherein the employed cellulase exhibits activity which, in turn, depends on the nature of the cellulase employed.
  • concentration of buffer employed will depend on several factors which the skilled artisan can readily take into account.
  • the buffer as well as the buffer concentration are selected so as to maintain the pH of the cellulase solution within the pH range required for optimal cellulase activity. In general, buffer concentration in the cellulase solution is about 0.005 N and greater.
  • the concentration of the buffer in the cellulase solution is from about 0.01 to about 0.5 N, and more preferably, from about 0.05 to about 0.15 N. It is possible that increased buffer concentrations in the cellulase solution may enhance the rate of tensile strength loss of the treated fabric.
  • the cellulase solution can optionally contain a small amount of a surfactant, i.e., less than about 2 weight percent, and preferably from about 0.01 to about 2 weight percent.
  • a surfactant include any surfactant compatible with the cellulase and the fabric including, for example, anionic, non-ionic and ampholytic surfactants.
  • Suitable anionic surfactants for use herein include linear or branched alkylbenzenesulfonates; alkyl or alkenyl ether sulfates having linear or branched alkyl groups or alkenyl groups; alkyl or alkenyl sulfates; olefinsulfonates; alkanesulfonates and the like.
  • Suitable counter ions for anionic surfactants include alkali metal ions such as sodium and potassium; alkaline earth metal ions such as calcium and magnesium; ammonium ion; and alkanolamines having 1 to 3 alkanol groups of carbon number 2 or 3.
  • Ampholytic surfactants include quaternary ammonium salt sulfonates, betaine-type ampholytic surfactants, and the like. Such ampholytic surfactants have both the positive and negative charged groups in the same molecule.
  • Nonionic surfactants generally comprise polyoxyalkylene ethers, as well as higher fatty acid alkanolamides or alkylene oxide adduct thereof, fatty acid glycerine monoesters, and the like.
  • the liquor ratios i.e., the ratio of weight of cellulase solution to the weight of fabric, employed herein is generally an amount sufficient to achieve the desired enhancement in the cotton-containing fabric and is dependent upon the process used and the enhancement to be achieve.
  • the liquor ratios are generally from about 0.1:1 and greater, and more preferably greater than about 1:1 and even more preferably greater than about 10:l.
  • Use of liquor ratios of greater than about 50:1 are usually not preferred from an economic viewpoint.
  • reaction temperatures for cellulase treatment are governed by two competing factors. Firstly, higher temperatures generally correspond to enhanced reaction kinetics, i.e., faster reactions, which permit reduced reaction times as compared to reaction times required at lower temperatures. Accordingly, reaction temperatures are generally at least about 30°C and greater.
  • cellulase is a protein which loses activity beyond a given reaction temperature which temperature is dependent on the nature of the cellulase used. Thus, if the reaction temperature is permitted to go too high, then the cellulolytic activity is lost as a result of the denaturing of the cellulase. As a result, the maximum reaction temperatures employed herein are generally about 65°C. In view of the above, reaction temperatures are generally from about 30°C to about 65°C; preferably, from about 35°C to about 60°C; and more preferably, from about 35°C to about 50°C.
  • Reaction times are generally from about 0.l hours to about 24 hours and, preferably, from about 0.25 hours to about 5 hours.
  • the cotton-containing fabrics treated in the methods described above using such cellulase compositions possess reduced strength loss as compared to the same cotton-containing fabric treated in the same manner with a complete fungal cellulase composition.
  • a concentrate can be prepared for use in the methods described herein.
  • Such concentrates would contain concentrated amounts of the cellulase composition described above, buffer and surfactant, preferably in an aqueous solution.
  • the concentrate can readily be diluted with water so as to quickly and accurately prepare cellulase solutions having the requisite concentration of these additives.
  • such concentrates will comprise from about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent of a cellulase composition described above (protein) ; from about 10 to about 50 weight percent buffer; from about 10 to about 50 weight percent surfactant; and from about 0 to 80 weight percent water.
  • aqueous concentrates When aqueous concentrates are formulated, these concentrates can be diluted by factors of from about 2 to about 200 so as to arrive at the requisite concentration of the components in the cellulase solution. As is readily apparent, such concentrates will permit facile formulation of the cellulase solutions as well as permit feasible transportation of the concentration to the location where it will be used.
  • the cellulase composition as described above can be added to the concentrate either in a liquid diluent, in granules, in emulsions, in gels, in pastes, and the like. Such forms are well known to the skilled artisan.
  • the cellulase composition is generally a granule, a powder, an agglomerate and the like.
  • the granules are preferably formulated so as to contain a cellulase protecting agent. See, for instance, U.S. Serial No. 07/642,669, filed January 17, 1991 as Attorney Docket No. 010055-073 and entitled "GRANULES CONTAINING BOTH AN ENZYME AND AN ENZYME PROTECTING AGENT AND DETERGENT
  • the granule can be formulated so as to contain materials to reduce the rate of dissolution of the granule into the wash medium.
  • materials and granules are disclosed in U.S. Serial No. 07/642,596 filed on January 17, 1991 as Attorney Docket No. GCS-171-US1 and entitled "GRANULAR COMPOSITIONS” which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • cellulase compositions described herein can additionally be used in a pre-wash and as a pre-soak either as a liquid or a spray. It is still further contemplated that the cellulase compositions described herein can also be used in home use as a stand alone composition suitable for enhancing color and appearance of fabrics. See, for example, U.S.
  • Patent No. 4,738,682 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • Examples 1-12 and 22-30 demonstrate the preparation of Trichoderma reesei genetically engineered so as to be incapable of producing one or more cellulase components or so as to overproduce specific cellulase components.
  • the pyr4 gene encodes orotidine-5'- monophosphate decarboxylase, an enzyme required for the biosynthesis of uridine.
  • the toxic inhibitor 5- fluoroorotic acid (FOA) is incorporated into uridine by wild-type cells and thus poisons the cells.
  • FAA 5- fluoroorotic acid
  • cells defective in the pyr4 gene are resistant to this inhibitor but require uridine for growth. It is, therefore, possible to select for pyr4 derivative strains using FOA.
  • spores of T. reesei strain RL-P37 (Sheir-Neiss, G. and Montenecourt, B.S., Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 20, p.
  • a cbhl gene encoding the CBHI protein was cloned from the genomic DNA of T. reesei strain RL- P37 by hybridization with an oligonucleotide probe designed on the basis of the published sequence for this gene using known probe synthesis methods
  • the cbhl gene resides on a 6.5 kb Pstl fragment and was inserted into Pstl cut pUC4K (purchased from Pharmacia Inc., Piscataway, NJ) replacing the Kan r gene of this vector using techniques known in the art, which techniques are set forth in Maniatis et al. , (1989) and incorporated herein by reference.
  • the resulting plasmid, pUC4K::cbhl was then cut with Hindlll and the larger fragment of about 6 kb was isolated and religated to give pUC4K: :cbhl ⁇ H/H (see FIG. 1). This procedure removes the entire cbhl coding sequence and approximately 1.2 kb upstream and 1.5 kb downstream of flanking sequences. Approximately, 1 kb of flanking DNA from either end of the original Pstl fragment remains.
  • the T. reesei pyr4 gene was cloned as a 6.5 kb
  • FIG. 1 illustrates the construction of this plasmid.
  • Mycelium was obtained by inoculating 100 ml of YEG (0.5% yeast extract, 2% glucose) in a 500 ml flask with about 5 x 10 7 T. reesei GC69 spores (the pyr4 ⁇ derivative strain) . The flask was then incubated at 37°C with shaking for about 16 hours. The mycelium was harvested by centrifugation at 2,750 x g.
  • the harvested mycelium was further washed in a 1.2 M sorbitol solution and resuspended in 40 ml of a solution containing 5 mg/ml Novozym R 234 solution (which is the tradename for a multicomponent enzyme system containing 1,3-alpha- glucanase, 1,3-beta-glucanase, laminarinase, xylanase, chitinase and protease from Novo Biolabs, Danbury, CT) ; 5 mg/ml MgS0 4 .7H 2 0; 0.5 mg/ml bovine serum albumin; 1.2 M sorbitol.
  • Novozym R 234 solution which is the tradename for a multicomponent enzyme system containing 1,3-alpha- glucanase, 1,3-beta-glucanase, laminarinase, xylanase, chitinase and proteas
  • the protoplasts were removed from the cellular debris by filtration through Miracloth (Calbiochem Corp, La Jolla, CA) and collected by centrifugation at 2,000 x g.
  • the protoplasts were washed three times in 1.2 M sorbitol and once in 1.2 M sorbitol, 50 mM CaCl 2 , centrifuged and resuspended at a density of approximately 2 x 10 8 protoplasts per ml of 1.2 M sorbitol, 50 mM CaCl 2 .
  • the protoplast/medium mixture was then poured onto a solid medium containing the same Vogel's medium as stated above. No uridine was present in the medium and therefore only transformed colonies were able to grow as a result of complementation of the pyr4 mutation of strain GC69 by the wild type pyr4 gene insert in p ⁇ CBHIpyr4. These colonies were subsequently transferred and purified on a solid Vogel's medium N containing as an additive, 1% glucose and stable transformants were chosen for further analysis.
  • DNA was isolated from the transformants obtained in Example 4 after they were grown in liquid Vogel's medium N containing 1% glucose.
  • transformant DNA samples were further cut with a Pstl restriction enzyme and subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis. The gel was then blotted onto a Nytran membrane filter and hybridized with a 32 P labelled p ⁇ CBHlpyr4 probe. The probe was selected to identify the native cbhl gene as a 6.5 kb Pstl fragment, the native pyr gene and any DNA sequences derived from the transforming DNA fragment.
  • the radioactive bands from the hybridization were visualized by autoradiography.
  • the autoradiograph is seen in FIG. 3.
  • Five samples were run as described above, hence samples A, B, C, D, and E.
  • Lane E is the untransformed strain GC69 and was used as a control in the present analysis.
  • Lanes A-D represent transformants obtained by the methods described above.
  • the numbers on the side of the autoradiograph represent the sizes of molecular weight markers.
  • lane D does not contain the 6.5 kb CBHI band, indicating that this gene has been totally deleted in the transformant by integration of the DNA fragment at the cbhl gene.
  • the cbhl deleted strain is called P37P ⁇ CBHI.
  • Figure 2 outlines the deletion of the T.
  • sample A contained the cbhl gene, as indicated by the band at 6.5 kb; however the transformant, sample B, does not contain this 6.5 kb band and therefore does not contain the cbhl gene and does not contain any sequences derived from the pUC plasmid.
  • Spores from the produced P37P ⁇ CBHI strain were inoculated into 50 ml of a Trichoderma basal medium containing 1% glucose, 0.14% (NH 4 ) 2 S0 4 , 0.2% KH 2 P0 4 , 0.03% MgS0 4 , 0.03% urea, 0.75% bactotryptone, 0.05% Tween 80, 0.000016% CuS0 4 .5H 2 0, 0.001% FeS0 4 .7H 2 0, 0.000128% ZnS0 4 .7H 2 0, 0.0000054% Na 2 M ⁇ 0 4 .2H 2 0, 0.0000007% MnC1.4H20).
  • the medium was incubated with shaking in a 250 ml flask at 37°C for about 48 hours.
  • the resulting mycelium was collected by filtering through Miracloth (Calbiochem Corp.) and washed two or three times with 17 mM potassium phosphate.
  • the mycelium was finally suspended in 17 mM potassium phosphate with l mM sophorose and further incubated for 24 hours at 30°C with shaking.
  • the supernatant was then collected from these cultures and the mycelium was discarded.
  • Samples of the culture supernatant were analyzed by isoelectric focusing using a Pharmacia Phastgel system and pH 3- 9 precast gels according to the manufacturer's instructions. The gel was stained with silver stain to visualize the protein bands.
  • the band corresponding to the cbhl protein was absent from the sample derived from the strain P37P ⁇ CBHI, as shown in FIG. 5.
  • This isoelectric focusing gel shows various proteins in different supernatant cultures of T. reesei. Lane A is partially purified CBHI; Lane B is the supernatant from an untransformed T. reesei culture; Lane C is the supernatant from strain P37P ⁇ CBHI produced according to the methods of the present invention. The position of various cellulase components are labelled CBHI, CBHII, EGI, EGII, and EGIII. Since CBHI constitutes 50% of the total extracellular protein, it is the major secreted protein and hence is the darkest band on the gel. This isoelectric focusing gel clearly shows depletion of the CBHI protein in the P37P ⁇ CBHI strain.
  • the cbh2 gene of T. reesei. encoding the CBHII protein has been cloned as a 4.1 kb EcoRI fragment of genomic DNA which is shown diagramatically in FIG. 6A (Chen et al., 1987, Biotechnology, 5:274- 278). This 4.1 kb fragment was inserted between the EcoRI sites of pUC4XL.
  • the latter plasmid is a pUC derivative (constructed by R.M. Berka, Genencor International Inc.) which contains a multiple cloning site with a symetrical pattern of restriction endonuclease sites arranged in the order shown here: EcoRI. BaroHI. Sad.
  • T. reesei pyr4 gene was excised from pTpyr2 (see Example 2) on a 1.6 kb Nhel-SphI fragment and inserted between the SphI and Xbal sites of pUC219 (see Example 25) to create p219M (Smith et al., 1991, Curr. Genet 19 p. 27-33) .
  • the pyr4 gene was then removed as a HindiII-Clal fragment having seven bp of DNA at one end and six bp of DNA at the other end derived from the pUC219 multiple cloning site and inserted into the Hindlll and Clal sites of the cbh2 gene to form the plasmid pP ⁇ CBHII (see FIG. 6B) .
  • the transformants will also be grown in shaker flasks as in Example 7 and the protein in the culture supernatants examined by isoelectric focusing. In this manner T__ reesei GC69 transformants which do not produce the CBHII protein will be generated.
  • Protoplasts of strain P37P ⁇ CBHIPyr * 26 were generated and transformed with EcoRI digested pP ⁇ CBHII according to the methods outlined in Examples 3 and 4.
  • DNA was extracted from strain P37P ⁇ CBH67, digested with EcoRI and Asp7l8. and subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis. The DNA from this gel was blotted to a membrane filter and hybridized with 32 p labelled pP ⁇ CBHII (FIG. 7) .
  • Lane A of FIG. 7 shows the hybridization pattern observed for DNA from an untransformed T. reesei strain. The 4.1 kb EcoRI fragment containing the wild-type cbh2 gene was observed.
  • Lane B shows the hybridization pattern observed for strain P37P ⁇ CBH67. The single 4.1 kb band has been eliminated and replaced by two bands of approximately 0.9 and 3.1 kb. This is the expected pattern if a single copy of the EcoRI fragment from pP ⁇ CBHII had integrated precisely at the cbh2 locus.
  • the T. reesei egll gene which encodes EGI, has been cloned as a 4.2 kb Hindlll fragment of genomic DNA from strain RL-P37 by hybridization with oligonucleotides synthesized according to the published sequence (Penttila et al., 1986, Gene 45:253-263; van Arsdell et al. , 1987, Bio/Technology 5:60-64).
  • a 3.6 kb Hmdlll-BamHI fragment was taken from this clone and ligated with a 1.6 kb Hindlll- Ba HI fragment containing the T.
  • reesei pyr4 gene obtained from pTpyr2 (see Example 2) and pUC218 (identical to pUC219, see Example 25, but with the multiple cloning site in the opposite orientation) cut with Hindlll to give the plasmid pEGIp ⁇ r4 (FIG. 8) .
  • Digestion of pEGIpyr4 with Hindlll would liberate a fragment of DNA containing only T. reesei genomic DNA (the eqll and p ⁇ r4 genes) except for 24 bp of sequenced, synthetic DNA between the two genes and 6 bp of sequen ⁇ ed, synthetic DNA at one end (see FIG. 8).
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase was fractionated in the following manner.
  • the normal distribution of cellulase components in this cellulase system is as follows: CBH I 45-55 weight percent
  • the fractionation was done using columns containing the following resins: Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resin from Sigma Chemical Company (St. Louis, Mo), QA Trisacryl M anion exchange resin and SP Trisacryl M cation exchange resin from IBF
  • Biotechnics (Savage, Md) .
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase 0.5g
  • the desalted solution was then loaded onto a column of 20 ml of QA Trisacryl M anion exchange resin.
  • the fraction bound on this column contained CBH I and EG I. These components were separated by gradient elution using an aqueous gradient containing from 0 to about 500 mM sodium chloride.
  • the fraction not bound on this column contained CBH II and EG II.
  • cellulase systems which can be separated into their components include CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland) , and cellulase systems derived from CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland) , and cellulase systems derived from CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland) , and cellulase systems derived from CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland) , and cellulase systems derived from CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from
  • A. Large Scale Extraction of EG III Cellulase Enzyme One hundred liters of cell free cellulase filtrate were heated to about 30°C. The heated material was made about 4% wt/vol PEG 8000 (polyethylene glycol, MW of about 8000) and about 10% wt/vol anhydrous sodium sulfate. The mixture formed a two phase liquid mixture. The phases were separated using an SA-1 disk stack centrifuge. The phases were analyzed using silver staining isoelectric focusing gels. Separation was obtained for EG III and xylanase. The recovered composition contained about 20 to 50 weight percent of EG III.
  • EG III is conducted by fractionation from a complete fungal cellulase composition (CYTOLASE 123 cellulase, commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA) which is produced by wild type Trichoderma reesei. Specifically, the fractionation is done using columns containing the following resins: Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resin from Sigma Chemical Company (St. Louis, Mo) , QA Trisacryl M anion exchange resin and SP Trisacryl M cation exchange resin from IBF Biotechnics (Savage, Md) .
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA
  • the fractionation is done using columns containing the following resins: Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resin from Sigma Chemical Company (St. Louis, Mo) , QA Trisacryl M anion exchange resin and SP Trisacryl M cation exchange resin from IBF Biotechnics (Savage, Md) .
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase 0.5g is desalted using a column of 3 liters of Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resin with 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 6.8. The desalted solution, is then loaded onto a column of 20 ml of QA Trisacryl M anion exchange resin. The fraction bound on this column contained CBH I and EG I. The fraction not bound on this column contains CBH II, EG II and EG III. These fractions are desalted using a column of Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resin equilibrated with 10 mM sodium citrate, pH 4.5. This solution, 200 ml, is then loaded onto a column of 20 ml of SP Trisacryl M cation exchange resin. The EG III was eluted with 100 L of an aqueous solution of 200 mM sodium chloride.
  • Trichoderma reesei genetically modified so as to be incapable of producing one or more of EG I, EG II, CBH I and/or CBH II.
  • the absence of one or more of such components will necessarily lead to more efficient isolation of EG III.
  • the EG III compositions described above may be further purified to provide for substantially pure EG III compositions, i.e., compositions containing EG III at greater than about 80 weight percent of protein.
  • substantially pure EG III protein can be obtained by utilizing material obtained from procedure A in procedure B or vica versa.
  • One particular method for further purifying EG III is by further fractionation of an EG III sample obtained in part b) of this Example 14. The further fraction was done on a FPLC system using a Mono-S-HR 5/5 column (available from Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology, Piscataway, NJ) .
  • the FPLC system consists of a liquid chromatography controller, 2 pumps, a dual path monitor, a fraction collector and a chart recorder (all of which are available from Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology, Piscataway, NJ) .
  • the fractionation was conducted by desalting 5 ml of the EG III sample prepared in part b) of this Example 14 with a 20 ml Sephadex G-25 column which had been previously equilibrated with 10 mM sodium citrate pH 4. The column was then eluted with 0-200 mM aqueous gradient of NaCl at a rate of 0.5 ml/minute with samples collected in 1 ml fractions.
  • EG III was recovered in fractions 10 and 11 and was determined to be greater than 90% pure by SDS gel electrophoresis. EG III of this purity is suitable for determining the N-terminal amino acid sequence by known techniques.
  • EG III as well as EG I and EG II components purified in Example 13 above can be used singularly or in mixtures in the methods of this invention.
  • EG components have the following characteristics:
  • the first cellulase composition was a CBH I and II deleted cellulase composition prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to that described above so as to be unable to produce CBH I and CBH II components.
  • this cellulase composition does not contain CBH I and CBH II which generally comprise from about 58 to 70 percent of a cellulase P U 92/02631
  • composition derived from Trichoderma reesei this cellulase composition is necessarily substantially free of CBH I type and CBH II type cellulase components and accordingly, is enriched in EG components, i.e., EG I, EG II, EG III and the like.
  • the second cellulase composition was an approximately 20 to 40% pure fraction of EG III isolated from a cellulase composition derived from Trichoderma reesei via purification methods similar to part b) of Example 14.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates the relative activity of the CBH I and II deleted cellulase composition compared to the EG III cellulase composition. From this figure, it is seen that the cellulase composition deleted in CBH I and CBH II possesses optimum cellulolytic activity against RBB-CMC at near pH 5.5 and has some activity at alkaline pHs, i.e., at pHs from above 7 to 8. On the other hand, the cellulase composition enriched in EG III possesses optimum cellulolytic activity at pH 5.5 - 6 and possesses significant activity at alkaline pHs.
  • This example examines the ability of different cellulase compositions to reduce the strength of cotton-containing fabrics.
  • This example employs an aqueous cellulase solution maintained at pH 5 because the activity of the most of the cellulase components derived from Trichoderma reesei is greatest at or near pH 5 and accordingly, strength loss results will be most evident when the assay is conducted at about this pH.
  • the first cellulase composition analyzed was a complete fungal cellulase system (CYTOLASE 123 cellulase, commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA) produced by wild type Trichoderma reesei and is identified as GC010.
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA
  • the second cellulase composition analyzed was a
  • CBH II deleted cellulase composition prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to Examples 1 to 12 above and 22-30 below so as to be incapable of expressing CBH II and is identified as CBHIId.
  • CBH II comprises up to about 15 percent of the cellulase composition, deletion of this component results in enriched levels of CBH I, and all of the EG components.
  • the third cellulase composition analyzed was a CBH I and CBH II deleted cellulase composition prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to that described above so as to be incapable of expressing CBH I and CBH II and is identified as CBHI/IId.
  • CBH I and CBH II are not produced by this modified microorganism, the cellulase is necessarily free of all CBH I type components as well as all CBH components.
  • the last cellulase composition analyzed was a CBH I deleted cellulase composition prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to that described above so as to be incapable of expressing CBH I and is identified as CBHId. Insofar as the modified microorganism is incapable of expressing CBH I, this cellulase composition is necessarily free of all CBH I type cellulase components.
  • the cellulase compositions described above were tested for their effect on cotton-containing fabric strength loss in a launderometer.
  • the compositions were first normalized so that equal amounts of EG components were used.
  • Each cellulase composition was then added to separate solutions of 400 ml of a 20 mM citrate/phosphate buffer, titrated to pH 5, and which contains 0.5 ml of a non-ionic surfactant.
  • Each of the resulting solutions was then added to a separate launderometer canister.
  • Into these canisters were added a quantity of marbles to facilitate strength loss as well as a 16 inch x 20 inch cotton fabric (100% woven cotton, available as Style No. 467 from Test Fabrics, Inc., 200 Blackford Ave., Middlesex, NJ 08846).
  • the canister was then closed and the canister lowered into the launderometer bath which was maintained at 43°C.
  • the canister was then rotated in the bath at a speed of at least about 40 revolutions per minute (rpms) for about 1 hour. Afterwards, the cloth is removed, rinsed well and dried in a standard drier.
  • FIG. 10 which shows that compositions containing CBH I, i.e., whole cellulase (GC010) and CBH II deleted cellulase, possessed the most strength loss whereas, the compositions containing no CBH I possessed significantly reduced strength loss as compared to whole cellulase and CBH II deleted cellulase. From these results, it is seen that the presence of CBH I type components in a cellulase composition imparts increased strength loss to the composition as compared to a similar composition not containing CBH I type components.
  • CBH I whole cellulase
  • strength loss resistant cellulase compositions are those compositions free of all CBH I type cellulase components and preferably, all CBH type cellulase components.
  • cellulase compositions will result in even lower strength loss at pH > 7 than those results observed at pH 5 shown in FIG 10.
  • the fabric can become stressed and when so stressed, it will contain broken and disordered fibers. Such fibers detrimentally impart a worn and dull appearance to the fabric.
  • the methods of this invention will result in fabric/color enhancement. This is believed to arise by removal of some of the broken and disordered fibers which has the effect of restoring the appearance of the fabric prior to becoming stressed.
  • Examples 17 and 18 illustrate this benefit of the present invention. It is noted that these examples employed worn cotton T-shirs (knits) as well as new cotton knits.
  • the faded appearance of the worn cotton-containing fabric arises from the accumulation on the fabric of loose and broken surface fibers over a period of time. These fibers give rise to a faded and matted appearance for the fabric and accordingly, the removal of these fibers is a necessary prerequisite to restoring the original sharp color to the fabric. Additionally, the accumulation of broken surface fibers on new cotton knits imparts a dull appearance to such fabrics. Accordingly, these experiments are necessarily applicable to color enhancement of stressed cotton-containing fabrics because both involve removal of surface fibers from the fabric.
  • the ability of EG components to enhance color in cotton-containing fabrics was analyzed in the following experiments. Specifically, the first experiment measures the ability of a complete cellulase system (CYTOLASE 123 cellulase, commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA) produced by wild type Trichoderma reesei to remove surface fibers from a cotton-containing fabric over various pHs. This cellulase was tested for its ability to remove surface fibers in a launderometer.
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA
  • the canister was then closed and the canister lowered into the launderometer bath which was maintained at 43°C.
  • the canister was then rotated in the bath at a speed of at least about 40 revolutions per minute (rpms) for about 1 hour.
  • rpms revolutions per minute
  • the cloth is removed, rinsed well and dried in a standard drier.
  • the so treated fabrics were then analyzed for fiber removal by evaluation in a panel test. In particular, the fabrics (unmarked) were rated for levels of fiber by 6 individuals.
  • the fabrics were visually evaluated for surface fibers and rated on a 0 to 6 scale.
  • the scale has six standards to allow meaningful comparisons.
  • the standards are:
  • the fabric was a 100% cotton sheeting standardized test fabric (Style No. 439W) available from Test Fabrics, Inc., 200 Blackford Ave. , Middlesex, NJ 08846 b All samples were treated with the same cellulase composition. Cellulase concentrations are in total protein. The launderometer treatment conditions are the same as set forth in Example 16 above. The fabric to be rated was provided a rating which most closely matched one of the standards. After complete analysis of the fabrics, the values assigned to each fabric by all of the individuals were added and an average value generated.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates that at the same pH, a dose dependent response is seen in the amount of fibers removed. That is to say that at the same pH, the fabrics treated with more cellulase provided for higher levels of fiber removal as compared to fabrics treated with less cellulase. Moreover, the results of this figure demonstrate that at higher pHs, fiber removal can still be effected merely by using higher concentrations of cellulase.
  • the first cellulase composition analyzed was a complete cellulase system (CYTOLASE 123 cellulase, commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA) produced by wild type Trichoderma reesei and is identified as GC010.
  • CYTOLASE 123 cellulase commercially available from Genencor International, South San Francisco, CA
  • the second cellulase composition analyzed was a cellulase composition substantially free of all CBH type components (including CBH I type components) which composition was prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to that described above so as to be incapable of expressing CBH I and CBH II and is identified as CBHI/II deleted.
  • CBH I and CBH II comprises up to about 70 percent of the cellulase composition, deletion of this component results in enriched levels of all of the EG components.
  • compositions were tested for their ability to remove surface fibers in a launderometer.
  • An appropriate amount of cellulase to provide for the requisite concentrations of EG components in the final compositions were added to separate solutions of 400 ml of a 20 mM citrate/phosphate buffer containing 0.5 ml of a non-ionic surfactant.
  • FIG. 12 is plotted on estimated EG concentrations.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates that both GC010 and CBH I/II Deleted cellulase compositions gave substantially identical fiber removal results at substantially equal endoglucanase concentrations.
  • the results of this figure suggest that it is the EG components which provide for fiber removal.
  • Example 17 This example is further to Example 17 and substantiates that CBH type components are not necessary for color enhancement and the purpose of this example is to examine the ability of cellulase compositions deficient in CBH type components to enhance color to cotton-containing fabrics.
  • the cellulase composition employed in this example was substantially free of all CBH type components (including CBH I type components) insofar as this composition was prepared from Trichoderma reesei genetically modified in a manner similar to that described above so as to be incapable of expressing CBH I and CBH II.
  • CBH I and CBH II comprises up to about 70 percent of the cellulase composition, deletion of this component results in enriched levels of all of the EG components.
  • the assay was conducted by adding a sufficient concentration of this cellulase composition to a 50 mM citrate/phosphate buffer to provide 500 ppm of cellulase.
  • the solution was titrated to pH 5 and contained 0.1 weight percent of nonionic surfactant (Grescoterg GL100 — commercially available from
  • cellulase compositions would be beneficial during fabric processing because such compositions would remove broken/loose fibers generated during processing without detrimental strength loss to the fabric.
  • This example demonstrates that the presence of CBH type components are not essential for imparting improved softness to cotton-containing fabrics.
  • this example employs a cellulase composition free of all CBH type components which composition is derived from Trichoderma reesei genetically engineered in the manner described above so as to be incapable of producing CBH I and II components.
  • This cellulase composition was tested for its ability to soften terry wash cloth. Specifically, unsoftened 8.5 ounce cotton terry cloths, 14 inches by 15 inches (available as Style No. 420NS from Test Fabrics, Inc., 200 Blackford Ave., Middlesex, NJ 08846), were cut into 7 inch by 7.5 inch swatches.
  • the cellulase composition described above was tested for its ability to soften these swatches in a launderometer. Specifically, an appropriate amount of CBH I and II deleted cellulase to provide for 500 ppm, 250 ppm, 100 ppm, 50 ppm, and 10 ppm cellulase in the final cellulase solution was added to separate solutions of 400 ml of a 20 mM citrate/phosphate buffer containing 0.025 weight percent of a non-ionic surfactant (Triton X114) . Additionally, a blank was run containing the same solution but with no added cellulase. Samples so prepared were titrated to pH 5.
  • Triton X114 non-ionic surfactant
  • Each of the resulting solution was then added to a separate launderometer canister.
  • Into these canisters were added a quantity of marbles to facilitate softness as well as cotton swatches described above. All conditions were run in triplicate with two swatches per canister.
  • Each canister was then closed and the canister lowered into the launderometer bath which was maintained at 37°C. The canister was then rotated in the bath at a speed of at least about 40 revolutions per minute (rpms) for about 1 hour. Afterwards, the swatches were removed, rinsed well and dried in a standard drier.
  • the swatches were then analyzed for softness by evaluation in a preference test. Specifically, six panelists were given their own set of swatches and ask to rate them with respect to softness based on the softness criteria such as the pliability of the whole fabric. Swatches obtained from treatment with the five different enzyme concentrations and the blank were placed behind a screen and the panelists were asked to order them from least soft to most soft. Scores were assigned to each swatch based on its order relative to the other swatches; 5 being most soft and 0 being least soft. The scores from each panelists were cumulated and then averaged.
  • CBH type components are not essential for imparting improved feel and appearance to cotton-containing fabrics.
  • this example employs a cellulase composition derived from Trichoderma reesei genetically engineered in the manner described above so as to be incapable of producing any CBH type components (i.e., incapable of producing CBH I and II components) .
  • This cellulase composition was tested for its ability to improve the appearance of cotton- containing fabrics. Specifically, appropriately sized 100% cotton sheeting (available as Style No. 439W from Test Fabrics, Inc., 200 Blackford Ave., Middlesex, NJ 08846) were employed in the appearance aspects of this example.
  • the cellulase composition described above was tested for its ability to improve the appearance of these samples in a launderometer. Specifically, an appropriate amount of CBH I and II deleted cellulase to provide for 25 ppm, 50 ppm, and 100 ppm cellulase in the final cellulase solution was added to separate solutions of 400 ml of a 20 mM citrate/phosphate buffer containing 0.025 weight percent of a non-ionic surfactant (Triton X114) . Additionally, a blank was run containing the same solution but with no added cellulase. Samples so prepared were titrated to pH 5. Each of the resulting solutions was then added to a separate launderometer canister.
  • Triton X114 non-ionic surfactant
  • the CBH I and II deleted cellulase composition was then tested for its ability to improve the feel of cotton-containing fabrics. Specifically, appropriately sized 100% cotton sheeting (available as Style No. 439W from Test Fabrics, Inc., 200
  • the cellulase composition described above was tested for its ability to improve the feel of these samples in a launderometer. Specifically, an appropriate amount of cellulase to provide for 500 ppm, 1000 ppm, and 2000 ppm cellulase in the final cellulase solution was added to separate solutions of 24 L of a 20 ⁇ _ citrate/phosphate buffer. Additionally, a blank was run containing the same solution but with no added cellulase. All tests were conducted at pH 5.8 and run in an industial washer. The washer was operated at 50°C, a total volume of 24 L, a liquor to cloth ratio of 50:1 (weight to weight) and the washer was run for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the samples were removed and dried in an industrial dryer.
  • the panelists then assigned scores to each sample based on its order relative to the other samples; 4 having the best feel and 1 having the worst feel.
  • the scores from each panelists were cumulated and then averaged. The results of this test are as follows:
  • CBH type components are not essential for imparting a stone washed appearance to cotton-containing fabrics.
  • this example employs a cellulase composition derived from Trichoderma reesei genetically engineered in the manner described above so as to be incapable of producing any CBH type components (i.e., incapable of producing CBH I and II components) as well as a complete cellulase composition derived from Trichoderma reesei and which is available as Cytolase 123 cellulase from Genencor International, South San Francisco, California.
  • Samples were evaluated for their stonewashed appearance by 8 panelists. All eight panelists choose 100 ppm whole cellulase over non-enzyme treated pants as having the better stone washed look. Four of the 8 panelists choose the CBH I and II deleted cellulase treated pants over whole cellulase as having the better stone washed look; whereas the other four panelists choose the whole cellulase treated pants as having the better stone washed look. These results indicate that the CBH I and II deleted cellulase treated pants were indistinguishable from whole cellulase treated pants and that CBH I and/or CBH II are not not essential for imparting a stone washed appearance to cotton- containing fabrics.
  • cellulase compositions free of CBH I type components and derived from microorganisms other than Trichoderma reesei could be used in place of the cellulase compositions described in these examples.
  • the source of the cellulase composition containing the EG type components is not important to this invention and any fungal cellulase composition containing one or more EG type components and substantially free of all CBH I type components can be used herein.
  • fungal cellulases for use in preparing the fungal cellulase compositions used in this invention can be obtained from Trichoderma koningii f Pencillum sp.
  • cellulases can be used, i.e., CELLUCAST (available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark) , RAPIDASE (available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland), and the like.
  • CELLUCAST available from Novo Industry, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • RAPIDASE available from Gist Brocades, N.V. , Delft, Holland
  • RutC30 (Sheir-Neiss and Montenecourt, (1984) , Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 20:46-53) was obtained by the method outlined in Example 1. Protoplasts of this strain were transformed with undigested pEGIp ⁇ r4 and stable transformants were purified.
  • TSF medium 0.05M citrate-phosphate buffer, pH 5.0; Avicel microcrystalline cellulose, 10 g/1; KH 2 P0 4 , 2.0 g/1; (NH 4 ) 2 S0 4 , 1.4 g/1; proteose peptone, 1.0 g/1; Urea, 0.3 g/1; MgS0 4 .7H 2 0, 0.3 g/1; CaCl 2 , 0.3 g/1;
  • FeS0 4 .7H 2 5.0 mg/1; MnS0 4 .H 2 0, 1.6 mg/1; ZnS0 4 , 1.4 mg/1; CoCl 2 , 2.0 mg/1; 0.1% Tween 80). These cultures were incubated with shaking for a further four days at 28°C. Samples of the supernatant were taken from these cultures and assays designed to measure the total amount of protein and of endoglucanase activity were performed as described below.
  • the endoglucanase assay relied on the release of soluble, dyed oligosaccharides from Remazol Brilliant Blue-carboxymethylcellulose (RBB-CMC, obtained from MegaZyme, North Rocks, NSW, Australia) .
  • the substrate was prepared by adding 2 g of dry RBB-CMC to 80 ml of just boiled deionized water with vigorous stirring. When cooled to room temperature, 5 ml of 2 M sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.8) was added and the pH adjusted to 4.5. The volume was finally adjusted to 100 ml with deionized water and sodium azide added to a final concentration of 0.02%. Aliquots of T.
  • pEGlpyr4 transformant culture supernatant or 0.1 M sodium acetate as a blank (10- 20 ⁇ l) were placed in tubes, 250 ⁇ l of substrate was added and the tubes were incubated for 30 minutes at 37°C. The tubes were placed on ice for 10 minutes and 1 ml of cold precipitant (3.3% sodium acetate, 0.4% zinc acetate, pH 5 with HC1, 76% ethanol) was then added. The tubes were vortexed and allowed to sit for five minutes before centrifuging for three minutes at approximately 13,000 x g. The optical density was measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 590-600 nm.
  • the protein assay used was the BCA
  • BCA bovine serum albumin
  • the transformants described in this Example were obtained using intact pEGlpyr4 and will contain DNA sequences integrated in the genome which were derived from the pUC plasmid. Prior to transformation it would be possible to digest pEGIpyr4 with Hindlll and isolate the larger DNA fragment containing only T. reesei DNA. Transformation of T. reesei with this isolated fragment of DNA would allow isolation of transformants which overproduced EGI and contained no heterologous DNA sequences except for the two short pieces of synthetic DNA shown in FIG. 8. It would also be possible to use pEGIpyr4 to transform a strain which was deleted for either the cbhl gene, or the cbh2 gene, or for both genes. In this way a strain could be constructed which would over-produce EGI and produce either a limited range of, or no, exo-cellobiohydrolases.
  • Example 22 could be used to produce T. reesei strains which would over-produce any of the other cellulase components, xylanase components or other proteins normally produced by T. reesei.
  • a plasmid, pCEPCl was constructed in which the coding sequence for EGI was functionally fused to the promoter from the cbhl gene. This was achieved using in vitro, site-specific mutagenesis to alter the DNA sequence of the cbhl and egll genes in order to create convenient restriction endonuclease cleavage sites just 5' (upstream) of their respective translation initiation sites. DNA sequence analysis was performed to verify the expected sequence at the junction between the two DNA segments. The specific alterations made are shown in FIG. 14.
  • the DNA fragments which were combined to form pCEPCl were inserted between the EcoRI sites of pUC4K and were as follows (see FIG. 15) : A) A 2.1 kb fragment from the 5' flanking region of the cbhl locus. This includes the promoter region and extends to the engineered Bell site and so contains no cbhl coding sequence. B) A 1.9 kb fragment of genomic DNA from the egll locus starting at the 5' end with the engineered BamHI site and extending through the coding region and including approximately 0.5 kb beyond the translation stop codon. At the 3' end of the fragment is 18 bp derived from the pUC218 multiple cloning site and a 15 bp synthetic oligonucleotide used to link this fragment with the fragment below.
  • the plasmid, pCEPCl was designed so that the EGI coding sequence would be integrated at the cbhl locus, replacing the coding sequence for CBHI without introducing any foreign DNA into the host strain. Digestion of this plasmid with EcoRI liberates a fragment which includes the cbhl promoter region, the egll coding sequence and transcription termination region, the ___, reesei pyr4 gene and a segment of DNA from the 3' (downstream) flanking region of the cbhl locus (see Fig. 15) .
  • a pyr4 defective strain of __ reesei RutC30 (Sheir-Neiss, supra) was obtained by the method outlined in Example 1. This strain was transformed with pCEPCl which had been digested with EcoRI. Stable transformants were selected and subsequently cultured in shaker flasks for cellulase production as described in Example 22. In order to visualize the cellulase proteins, isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis was performed on samples from these cultures using the method described in Example 7. Of a total of 23 transformants analysed in this manner 12 were found to produce no CBHI protein, which is the expected result of integration of the CEPCl DNA at the cbhl locus.
  • Southern blot analysis was used to confirm that integration had indeed occurred at the cbhl locus in some of these transformants and that no sequences derived from the bacterial plasmid vector (pUC4K) were present (see Fig. 16) .
  • the DNA from the transformants was digested with Pstl before being subjected to electrophoresis and blotting to a membrane filter.
  • the resulting Southern blot was probed with radiolabelled plasmid pUC4K::cbhl (see Example 2) .
  • the probe hybridised to the cbhl gene on a 6.5 kb fragment of DNA from the untransformed control culture (FIG. 16, lane A) .
  • Endoglucanase activity assays were performed on samples of culture supernatant from the untransformed culture and the transformants exactly as described in Example 22 except that the samples were diluted 50 fold prior to the assay so that the protein concentration in the samples was between approximately 0.03 and 0.07 mg/ml.
  • the results of assays performed with the untransformed control culture and four different transformants are shown in Table 2.
  • Transformants CEPC1-103 and CEPC1-112 are examples in which integration of the CEPCl fragment had led to loss of CBHI production.
  • the eg!3 gene encoding EGII (previously referred to as EGIII by others) , has been cloned from T. reesei and the DNA sequence published (Saloheimo et al., 1988, Gene 63:11-21).
  • the latter vector, pUC219 is derived from pUC119 (described in Wilson et al., 1989, Gene 77:69-78) by expanding the multiple cloning site to include restriction sites for BgJLIl, Clal and Xhol.
  • the T ⁇ . reesei pyr4 gene present on a 2.7 kb Sail fragment of genomic DNA, was inserted into a Sail site within the EGII coding sequence to create plasmid pEGII::P-l (FIG. 17) .
  • the plasmid, pEGII::P-l can be digested with Hindlll and BamHI to yield a linear fragment of DNA derived exclusively from T__. reesei except for 5 bp on one end and 16 bp on the other end, both of which are derived from the multiple cloning site of pUC219.
  • reesei strain GC69 will be transformed with pEGII::P-l which had been previously digested with Hindlll and BamHI and stable transformants will be selected.
  • Total DNA will be isolated from the transformants and Southern blot analysis used to identify those transformants in which the fragment of DNA containing the pyr4 and eg!3 genes had integrated at the eql3 locus and consequently disrupted the EGII coding sequence. The transformants will be unable to produce EGII.
  • P37P ⁇ CBH67 (from Example 11) was obtained by the method outlined in Example 1. This strain P37P ⁇ 67P " 1 was transformed with pEGII::P-l which had been previously digested with Hindlll and BamHI and stable transformants were selected. Total DNA was isolated from transformants and Southern blot analysis used to identify strains in which the fragment of DNA containing the pyr4 and eql3 genes had integrated at the eq!3 locus and consequently disrupted the EGII coding sequence. The Southern blot illustrated in FIG. 18 was probed with an approximately 4 kb Pstl fragment of ___.
  • the size of the band corresponding to the eq!3 gene increased in size by approximately 2.7 kb (the size of the inserted pyr4 fragment) between the untransformed P37P ⁇ 67P"1 strain (Lanes A and C) and the transformant disrupted for eql3 (FIG. 18, Lanes B and D) .
  • the transformant containing the disrupted eg!3 gene illustrated in FIG. 18 was named A22.
  • the transformant identified in FIG. 18 is unable to produce CBHI, CBHII or EGII.
  • the egll gene of T. reesei strain RL-P37 was obtained, as described in Example 12, as a 4.2 kb Hindlll fragment of genomic DNA. This fragment was inserted at the Hindlll site of pUClOO (a derivative of pUC18; Yanisch-Perron et al., 1985, Gene 33:103- 119, with an oligonucleotide inserted into the multiple cloning site adding restriction sites for lain, Clal and Xhol) .
  • the plasmid pP ⁇ EGI-1 can be digested with
  • Hindlll to release a DNA fragment comprising only T. reesei genomic DNA having a segment of the egll gene at either end and the pyr4 gene replacing part of the EGI coding sequence, in the center.
  • Example 28 The expectation that the EGI gene could be inactivated using the method outlined in Example 28 is strengthened by this experiment.
  • a plasmid, p ⁇ EGIpyr-3 was constructed which was similar to pP ⁇ EGI-1 except that the Aspergillus niqer pyr4 gene replaced the £__ reesei p ⁇ r4 gene as selectable marker.
  • the egll gene was again present as a 4.2 kb Hindlll fragment inserted at the Hindlll site of pUClOO.
  • a pyr4 deficient derivative of strain A22 (from Example 27) will be obtained by the method outlined in Example 1.
  • This strain will be transformed with pP ⁇ EGI-1 which had been previously digested with Hindlll to release a DNA fragment comprising only T. reesei genomic DNA having a segment of the egll gene at either end with part of the EGI coding sequence replaced by the pyr4 gene.
  • Stable pyr4+ transformants will be selected and total DNA isolated from the transformants.
  • the DNA will be probed with 32 P labelled pP ⁇ EGI-1 after Southern blot analysis in order to identify transformants in which the fragment of DNA containing the p ⁇ r4 gene and egll sequences has integrated at the egll locus and consequently disrupted the EGI coding sequence.
  • the transformants identified will be unable to produce CBHI, CBHII, EGI and EGII.

Abstract

Procédés améliorés de traitement de tissus contenant du coton, et tissus ainsi obtenus. Plus spécialement, ces procédés consistent à mettre des tissus contenant du coton en contact avec une solution aqueuse contenant une composition de cellulase fongique comportant au moins un des constituants du type EG et au moins un des constituants du type CBH I, ladite composition de cellulase présentant un rapport de poids protéique supérieur à 5:1 entre respectivement l'ensemble des constituants du type EG et l'ensemble des constituants du type CBH I. Les tissus ainsi traités présentent des pertes de résistance moins importantes que celles des tissus traités au moyen d'une composition de cellulase contenant des quantités plus importantes de constituants du type CBH I.
EP92909253A 1991-03-29 1992-03-30 Procede de traitement par la cellulase des tissus contenant du coton. Withdrawn EP0577722A4 (fr)

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JP3911009B2 (ja) * 1994-03-18 2007-05-09 ジェネンコー・インターナショナル・インク セルラーゼによる綿非含有布の処理方法
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US6723549B2 (en) 1995-10-17 2004-04-20 Ab Enzymes Oy Cellulases, the genes encoding them and uses thereof
US6184019B1 (en) 1995-10-17 2001-02-06 Röhm Enzyme Finland OY Cellulases, the genes encoding them and uses thereof
FI964692A0 (fi) * 1996-11-25 1996-11-25 Primalco Ltd Foerbaettrad cellulassammansaettning foer bioefterbehandling av textilmaterial som innehaoller cellulosa
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US6294366B1 (en) 1997-09-19 2001-09-25 Clariant Finance (Bvi) Limited Compositions and methods for treating cellulose containing fabrics using truncated cellulase enzyme compositions
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