beta-Glucanase present in cell-free extracts from Candida utilis was isolated and purified 562-fold by procedures that include adsorption on DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and filtration through columns of Sephadex G-50, G-100 and G-200, Bio-Gel P-10, and Concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B. The purified enzyme appeared homogeneous on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and in ultracentrifugation studies (S20,w = 1.74S). The enzyme behaved as an acidic glycoprotein (pI4.1) with 68% carbohydrate and a high content of acidic amino acids. The mol.wt. was estimated to be 20000 from gel filtration and polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and 36000 from sedimentation experiments. Studies on the hydrolysis of different substrates showed that the enzyme is an unspecific beta-glucanase able to break down both (1 leads to 3)-eta- and (1 leads to 6)-beta-linkages by an exo-splitting mechanism. Glucono-delta-lactone, Zn2+ and Hg2+ inhibited the enzyme activity.
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