cellulolysisn.
/ˌsɛljᵿˈlɒlᵻsɪs/, U.S. /ˌsɛljəˈlɑləsəs/ Biology.
The chemical decomposition of cellulose.
ΚΠ
1953 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 75 1869/1 As much as 23% of the wood could be obtained through cellulolysis by wood-destroying molds of the ‘brown rot’ type.
1971 Jrnl. Wildlife Managem. 35 678/2 Cellulolysis is a slow process and should be of minor importance in small ruminants having low rumen retention times.
1984 J. W. Deacon Introd. Mod. Mycol. (ed. 2) xi. 181 The end-products of cellulase action are known to slow the rate of cellulolysis.
2006 M. Begon et al. Ecology (ed. 4) xi. 339/1 The diets of plant-eaters generally suffer from a limited supply of critical nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, rather than of energy, which cellulolysis would release.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1953