Morpholine-induced formation of L-alanine dehydrogenase activity in Mycobacterium strain HE5

An NAD-dependent, morpholine-stimulated L-alanine dehydrogenase activity was detected in crude extracts from morpholine-, pyrrolidine-, and piperidine-grown cells of Mycobacterium strain HE5. Addition of morpholine to the assay mixture resulted in an up to 4. 6-fold increase of L-alanine dehydrogenase activity when L-alanine was supplied at suboptimal concentration. L-alanine dehydrogenase was purified to near homogeneity using a four-step purification procedure. The native enzyme had a molecular mass of 160 kDa and contained one type of subunit with a molecular mass of 41 kDa, indicating a tetrameric structure. The sequence of 30 N-terminal amino acids was determined and showed a similarity of up to 81% to that of various alanine dehydrogenases. The pH optimum for the oxidative deamination of L-alanine, the only amino acid converted by the enzyme, was determined to be pH 10.1, and apparent Km values for L-alanine and NAD were 1.0 and 0.2 mM, respectively. Km values of 0. 6, 0.02, and 72 mM for pyruvate, NADH, and NH4+, respectively, were estimated at pH 8.7 for the reductive amination reaction.