cellulase

[ sel-yuh-leys, -leyz ]

nounBiochemistry.

any of several enzymes, produced primarily by fungi and bacteria, that catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose.

Origin of cellulase

First recorded in 1900–05; cellul(ose) + -ase

Words Nearby cellulase

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cellulase in a sentence

A cellulase from the symbiotic intestinal flagellates of termites and of the roach, Cryptocercus punctulatus.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches | Louis M. Roth

British Dictionary definitions for cellulase

cellulase

/ (ˈsɛljʊˌleɪz) /

noun

any enzyme that converts cellulose to the disaccharide cellobiose

Origin of cellulase

C20: from cellulose + -ase

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for cellulase

cellulase

[ sĕl′yə-lās′ ]

Any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze the breakdown of cellulose. Protozoans in the guts of termites produce the cellulase needed for the termites to digest wood.

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