Partial purification and characterization of the lipase of a facultatively psychrophilic bacterium (Acinetobacter O16).

The extracellular lipase(s) of the psychrophile Acinetobacter O16 was studied. When the enzyme was precipitated by (NH4)2SO4 and passed through a Sephadex G200 column, two peaks of lipase activity appeared. The larger peak, which behaved like a substance of high molecular weight, being eluted in the void volume, was purified 250-fold over the crude enzyme (culture supernatant) by passage through a DEAE-Sephadex column. When the enzyme was applied to a DEAE-cellulose column it could not be eluted unless it had first been treated with the detergent Titon X 100. It is suggested that lipids or phospholipids make up an important part of the molecule. The activity of the crude and partly purified enzymes was studied in relation to pH and temperature optima. Lipases from the psychrophilic Acinetobacter O16 and from the mesophilic Acinetobacter O4 reacted in the same way to temperature. The crude enzyme from Acinetobacter O16 was more temperature-stable than the purified enzyme.