β-Galactosidase from Bacillus stearothermophilus

Abstract

Several strains of thermophilic aerobic spore-forming bacilli synthesize β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) constitutively. The constitutivity is apparently not the result of a temperature-sensitive repressor. The β-galactosidase from one strain, investigated in cell-free extracts, has a pH optimum between 6.0 and 6.4 and a very sharp pH dependence on the acid side of its optimum. The optimum temperature for this enzyme is 65 °C and the Arrhenius activation energy is about 24 kcal/mol below 47 °C and 16 kcal/mol above that temperature. At 55 °C the Km is 0.11 M for lactose and 9.8 × 10−3 M for o-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside. The enzyme is strongly product-inhibited by galactose (Ki = 2.5 × 10−3 M). It is relatively stable at 50 °C, losing only half of its activity after 20 days at this temperature. At 60 °C more than 60% of the activity is lost in 10 min. However, the enzyme is protected somewhat against thermal inactivation by protein, and in the presence of 4 mg/ml of bovine serum albumin the enzyme is only 18% inactivated in 10 min at 60 °C. Its molecular weight, estimated by disc gel electrophoresis, is 215 000.