Properties of an immobilized pesticide-hydrolyzing enzyme.

A bacterial enzyme(s) capable of hydrolyzing nine organophosphate insecticides was covalently bound to glass. The efficiency of this binding reaction ranged from 4 to 17%. Under continuous column operation, the immobilized enzyme(s) had an extrapolated half-life of 280 days. The specific activity of this glass-covalently bound hydrolase activity for parathion varied from 0.035 to 0.15 mumol/min per g of glass. The bound activity increased with decreasing glass particle size; however, the flow resistance also increased. Immobilized enzyme(s) kinetics were approximately 50% slower than those of the free enzyme(s), but there was no significant difference in the effect pH and temperature had on the activity of immobilized and free enzyme(s).