ε-Caprolactam-utilizing bacteria splitε-caprolactam,δ-valerolactam andγ-butyrolactam, and produce theω-amino acids corresponding to them. This activity is lost when cells are grown on 6-amino-caproic acid or ammonium adipate, and reappears when cells are incubated with eitherε-caprolactam orδ-valerolactam as the sole major organic nutrient. Chloramphenicol inhibits this adaptation. The enzyme splitting those lactams is one and the same. It may be called“lactam-splitting enzyme”. But attempts to demonstrate the enzymic activity in a cell-free system has not yet been
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