Purification and Characterization of a Xylanase from Bacillus sp. KK-1

A thermophilic Bacillus sp. strain KK-1 isolated from soil produced an extracellular xylanase. From the culture supernatant of Bacillus sp., the xylanase was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-Sephadex A-50 chromatography. The molecular weight of the purified xylanase was estimated to be 45 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel permeation chromatography. The apparent $K_m$ values for xylanase, using oat spelt xylan and birchwood xylan as substrates, were 7.1 mg/ml and 3.2 mg/ml, and $V_{max}$ values were $27.0\;{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}$ and $29.0\;{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}$, respectively. The xylanase hydrolyzed oat spelt xylan to mostly xylobiose, xylotriose, and xylose. The amino acid composition indicated that the xylanase contained high amounts of amino add residues of glutamic acid and glutamine (Glx) and aspartic acid and asparagine (Asx).