Studies on the Ship-fouling Alga Enteromorpha II. The Effect of Certain Enzymes on the Adhesion of Zoospores

Abstract

A method for assessing the adhesion of settled zoospores of Enteromorpha intestinalis is described. Using this method, the effect of certain enzymes on the attachment process has been studied and the biochemical nature of the secreted adhesive inferred from the results. Although considerable variation in adhesive ability has been shown to exist between spores from different parent sources certain enzymes produce a consistent weakening action on adhesion. Trypsin, pronase, and a-amylase are especially active in this respect. The experimental results demonstrate that the α-amylase effect, although not quite so great as that of the two proteolytic enzymes is, however, genuine. In conjunction with the previous paper it has been shown that adhesive production is a rapid process, completed within minutes of initial contact and that at this early stage the adhesive material is particularly susceptible to proteolytic attack. The results offer the possibility of a biological method for the control of algal fouling.