The Mechanism of Degradation of Cellulose by Myrothecium Cellulase

A swollen cellulose was hydrolyzed by Myroihecium cellulase and the loss in weight, number-average degree of polymerization, and weight-average degree of polymerization were determined at various intervals. The loss in weight relative to the change in D.P. excludes endwise cleavage as the mechanism of hydrolysis. An approximate test for random cleavage is derived from the Beall–Jorgensen treatment of random cleavage processes and, within the limits of this test, the change in weight-average D.P. relative to the change in number-average D.P. is shown to be consistent with random cleavage.