A simple procedure for the detection of plant extracellular proteolytic enzymes

A simple procedure for the detection of extracellular plant proteolytic enzymes using insoluble dye-stained gelatin substrates incorporated into an appropriate culture medium is described. Extracellular proteinases produced by the tested plant cells (callus culture and cell suspension) hydrolyzed the substrates and dyed peptide fragments were released. Dyed zones around and under the proteinase-producing callus cultures were formed on the agar medium. Similarly, coloration of the culture media using proteinase-producing cell suspensions was observed.