Partial purification and properties of a β-N-acetylglucosaminidase from the fungus Sclerotinia fructigena

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Abstract
1. As cultures of the fungus Sclerotinia fructigena autolysed, the filtrates contained increasing quantities of a β-N-acetylglucosaminidase. 2. The enzyme was purified up to 42-fold by a combination of isoelectric focusing and gel filtration. 3. It ran as a single band in cellulose acetate strip electrophoresis and in isoelectric focusing (pI3.76). 4. The enzyme did not readily hydrolyse chitin or a glycopeptide with terminal N-acetylglucosamine residues, but rapidly degraded the N-acetylglucosamine dimer NN′-diacetylchitobiose; the monomer was readily utilized by the fungus as a nitrogen source. The Km value for hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl β-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranoside at 37°C was 2.0mm. The Sclerotinia enzyme was generally less susceptible to inhibition by 2-acetamido-2-deoxygluconolactone and other related sugars than the corresponding enzyme from other sources. Inhibition by excess of substrate was observed. 5. The culture filtrate also contained N-acetylgalactosaminidase activity; conflicting evidence was obtained as to whether the same enzyme was responsible for both hexosaminidase activities.