Abstract
Extracellular ${\alpha}$-glucosidase was purified to homogeneity from moderately thermophilic Bacillus sp. DG0303. The thermostable ${\alpha}$-glucosidase was purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion-exchange chromatography, preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and electroelution. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 60 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The optimum temperature for the action of the enzyme was at $60^{\circ}C$. It had a half-life of 35 min at $60^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was stable at the pH range of 4.5~7.0 and had an optimum pH at 5.0. The enzyme preparation did not require any metal ion for activity. The thermostable ${\alpha}$-glucosidase hydrolyzed the ${\alpha}$-1,6-linkages in isomaltose, isomaltotriose, and panose, and had little or no activity with maltooligosaccharides and other polysaccharides. The $K_m$ (mM) for p-nitrophenyl-${\alpha}$-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG), panose, isomaltose, and isomaltotriose were 4.6, 4.7, 40.8, and 3.7 and the $V_{max}$(${\mu}mol{\cdot}min^-1$$mg^-1$) for those substrates were 5629, 1669, 3410, and 1827, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme was MERVWWKKAV. Based on its substrate specificity and catalytic properties, the enzyme has been assigned to be an oligo-1,6-glucosidase.