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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 345-353, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.345-353.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Purification and Characterization of an Extracellular Poly(L-Lactic Acid) Depolymerase from a Soil Isolate, Amycolatopsis sp. Strain K104-1

Kohei Nakamura, Toshio Tomita, Naoki Abe, and Yoshiyuki Kamio*

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan

Received 13 July 2000/Accepted 22 October 2000

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA)-degrading Amycolatopsis sp. strains K104-1 and K104-2 were isolated by screening 300 soil samples for the ability to form clear zones on the PLA-emulsified mineral agar plates. Both of the strains assimilated >90% of emulsified 0.1% (wt/vol) PLA within 8 days under aerobic conditions. A novel PLA depolymerase with a molecular weight of 24,000 was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant of strain K104-1. The purified enzyme degraded high-molecular-weight PLA in emulsion and in solid film, ultimately forming lactic acid. The optimum pH for the enzyme activity was 9.5, and the optimum temperature was 55 to 60°C. The PLA depolymerase also degraded casein and fibrin but did not hydrolyze collagen type I, triolein, tributyrin, poly(beta -hydroxybutyrate), or poly(epsilon -caprolactone). The PLA-degrading and caseinolytic activities of the enzyme were inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride but were not significantly affected by soybean trypsin inhibitor, N-tosyl-L-lysyl chloromethyl ketone, N-tosyl-L-phenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone, and Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor. Thus, Amycolatopsis sp. strain K104-1 excretes the unique PLA-degrading and fibrinolytic serine enzyme, utilizing extracellular polylactide as a sole carbon source.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan. Phone: 81-22-717-8779. Fax: 81-22-717-8780. E-mail: ykamio{at}biochem.tohoku.ac.jp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 345-353, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.345-353.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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