Lysozyme-catalyzed reaction of chitooligosaccharides.

The time-courses of substrate consumption and product formation in the lysozyme-catalyzed reaction were determined with (GlcNAc)4 and (GlcNAc)5 as substrate to accumulate data suitable for the estimation of rate constants by numerical analysis. The lysozyme-catalyzed reactions were followed by TLC or HPLC. (GlcNAc)4 decomposed apparently to small oligosaccharides within 5 h, and (GlcNAc)5 decomposed within 15 min at pH 5.0 and 50 degrees C. The temperature-dependence of the rate of disappearance of the initial substrate showed a different profile from that observed with glycol chitin as substrate by the reducing power method. The order (or distribution) of the amount of product formed from (GlcNAc)5 in the reaction time-course determined by TLC differed from that determined by HPLC. The relative error in HPLC was much less than that in TLC, and the time-course determined by HPLC was thought to be of sufficient accuracy for the estimation of rate constants by computer analysis.