Purification and properties of extracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerases from Pseudomonas lemoignei.

Extracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase was purified from the culture medium of Peudomonas lemoignei and separated into four isozymes (A1, A2, B1 and B2) by CM-Sepharose CL-6B chromatography. The molecular weights of A1 and A2 and those of B1 and B2 were estimated to be 54 000 and 58 000, respectively, by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The isoelectric points of A1, A2, B1 and B2 were found to be approximately pH 9.7, 10.0, 10.0 and 10.6, respectively, by isoelectric focusing. All four enzymes hydrolyzed poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and oligomeric esters of D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate, but showed no activity toward the dimeric ester. Analysis of hydrolytic products of the oligomeric esters with A1 and B2 suggested that the enzymes hydrolyzed mainly the second and third ester bonds from the free hydroxy terminus at different frequencies, depending upon the chain length of the substrates.