Proximity effect is a form of synergistic effect exhibited when cellulases work within a short distance from each other, and this effect can be a key factor in enhancing saccharification efficiency. In this study, we evaluated the proximity effect between 3 cellulose-degrading enzymes displayed on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell surface, that is, endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, and -glucosidase. We constructed 2 kinds of arming yeasts through genome integration: ALL-yeast, which simultaneously displayed the 3 cellulases (thus, the different cellulases were near each other), and MIX-yeast, a mixture of 3 kinds of single-cellulase-displaying yeasts (the cellulases were far apart). The cellulases were tagged with a fluorescence protein or polypeptide to visualize and quantify their display. To evaluate the proximity effect, we compared the activities of ALL-yeast and MIX-yeast with respect to degrading phosphoric acid-swollen cellulose after adjusting for the cellulase amounts. ALL-yeast exhibited 1.25-fold or 2.22-fold higher activity than MIX-yeast did at a yeast concentration equal to the yeast cell number in 1 ml of yeast suspension with an optical density (OD) at 600 nm of 10 (OD10) or OD0.1. At OD0.1, the distance between the 3 cellulases was greater than that at OD10 in MIX-yeast, but the distance remained the same in ALL-yeast; thus, the difference between the cellulose-degrading activities of ALL-yeast and MIX-yeast increased (to 2.22-fold) at OD0.1, which strongly supports the proximity effect between the displayed cellulases. A proximity effect was also observed for crystalline cellulose (Avicel). We expect the proximity effect to further increase when enzyme display efficiency is enhanced, which would further increase cellulose-degrading activity. This arming yeast technology can also be applied to examine proximity effects in other diverse fields. C ellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on earth (1). Lignocellulosic biomass has increasingly attracted attention as a promising alternative feedstock for biofuel (2). However, producing biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass by using the current technology is exceedingly expensive because of 2 possible reasons: (i) the recalcitrance that hinders the deconstruction and use of the feedstock and (ii) the involvement of multiple steps, because of which a complicated infrastructure is required and the risk of contamination is enhanced. Overcoming these obstacles requires both a synergistic reaction between cellulases and consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), which integrates the whole biofuel production process (3, 4).Certain naturally occurring microorganisms can degrade cellulose. Aerobic fungi, such as Trichoderma reesei, secrete several kinds of cellulases, mainly endoglucanase (EG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), and -glucosidase (BG), to completely degrade cellulose, and the free cellulases are recognized to degrade cellulose synergistically (5). Conversely, anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium thermocellum and Clostridium cellulovorans, produce a co...