To obtain enzymes lysing living basidiomycete cells, more than 400 strains of microorganisms were tested with respect to their lytic activities on Flammulina velutipes and Lyophyllum ulmarium. Two strains isolated from mushroom cultivation medium had strong cell wall lytic activity. By irradiation with ultraviolet (254nm), a mutant strain (TM37) which produced much more lytic enzyme than a native strain (Trichoderma pseudokoningii) was obtained. When the fruit body of F velutipes was used as a carbon source, the productivity of lytic enzymes produced from T. pseudokoningii TM37 became maximum. There are β-1, 3-glucanases as main products in a crude enzyme preparation produced by TM37. The specific activity of partly purified β-1, 3-glucanase (P-1 Fraction) obtained by DEAE-Toyopearl 650M column chromatography increased 37-fold compared with crude enzyme preparation. A lytic enzyme preparation (P-1 Fraction) released a large number of protoplasts from mycelia of both F velutipes and L. ulmarium.
