Abstract
A new lipase (OBase) which efficiently hydrolyzes oleyl benzoate (OB) was found in the culture supernatant of Acinetobacter nov. sp. strain KM109, a new isolate growing in a minimum medium containing OB as the sole carbon source. OBase was purified to homogeneity with 213-fold purification and 0.8% yield. The molecular weight was estimated to be 62,000±1,000 by SDS-PAGE under denatured-reduced conditions and to be 50,000±1,000 by gel-filtration HPLC under native conditions; these findings indicate that OBase is a monomeric enzyme. The optimum temperature and pH of OBase were about 45°C and pH 8. Temperature and pH stabilities were at or lower than 35°C and in a range of pH 6-8, respectively. Purified OBase preferentially hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl benzoate (pNPB) over p-nitrophenyl acetate (pNPA) or p-nitrophenyl caproate (pNPC) [pNPB/pNPA=20 and pNPB/pNPC=5.4], indicating that OBase has a high affinity for benzoyl esters. Partial amino-acid sequences of OBase fragments obtained after lysyl endopeptidase treatment showed no similarity with known proteins.
