A Cultural Method for the Detection of Pullulan—Degrading Enzymes in Bacteria and its Application to the Genus Bacillus

Abstract

Pullulan in a solid growth medium can be precipitated selectively with ethanol. Clear zones due to pullulan hydrolysis surround microbial colonies which produce the appropriate enzyme. When this procedure was applied to 297 strains representing 26 species of the genus Bacillus, 138 (46%) of the organisms were shown to hydrolyze pullulan.