1. The glucose dehydrogenase extracted from
Aspergillus oryzae oxidizes D-glucose to D-gluconate in the presence of a suitable hydrogen acceptor. This reaction can take place in the absence of phosphate. On the other hand, 6-phospho-D-glucose was oxidized much more slowly than D-glucose. From these facts it was concluded that the enzyme oxidizes D-glucose directly without the participation of phosphate.
2. The rate of reduction of thionine in the presence of glucose was not modified by the addition of gluconate. Nor did the addition of gluconate cause any sign of reoxidation of thionine which had been totally reduced by the oxidation of glucose through the enzyme. The enzymatic oxidation of glucose to gluconate may, therefore, be regarded as being practically an irreversible process.
3. The change of redox-potential in the reaction system (in the presence of various redox-dyes) was followed potentiometrically. It was found that the existence of gluconate in the reaction medium did not exert any influence upon the time course of the potential change. In all cases the potential decreased more or less rapidly up to a certain value and from that point it continued to drop quite slowly but steadily without attaining any final value even after fifty hours. The bending point of the potential-time curve was found to correspond fairly well with the E
0'-value of the dyestuff which was most readily reduced among the dyestuffs used.
4. The reduction of those dyestuffs which by themselves are only slowly or practically not reduced by the enzyme system can be accelerated by the addition of easily reducible redox-dyes. For this accelerating effect, however, the necessary condition is that the difference in E
0'-values of suitable and unsuitable dyes should not surpass a certain limit.
(For example the limit is
ΔE
0'=0.140 volts when thionine was used as suitable hydrogen acceptor.) It was briefly discussed that all the facts pertaining to the mutual action between the enzyme system in question and the various redox-dyes studied are to be interpreted from kinetic rather than from a thermodynamic standpoint.
In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to Prof. H. Tamiya for his constant encouragement and suggestions during the course of this research.
抄録全体を表示