Purification and characterization of glutamate decarboxylase from Neurospora crassa conidia

L-Glutamate decarboxylase, an enzyme under the control of the asexual developmental cycle of Neurospora crassa, was purified to homogeneity from conidia. The purification procedure included ammonium sulfate fractionation and DEAE-Sephadex and cellulose phosphate column chromatography. The final preparation gave a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels with a molecular weight of 33,200 +/- 200. A single band coincident with enzyme activity was found on native 7.5% polyacrylamide gels. The molecular weight of glutamate decarboxylase was 30,500 as determined by gel permeation column chromatography at pH 6.0. The enzyme had an acidic pH optimum and showed hyperbolic kinetics at pH 5.5 with a Km for glutamic acid of 2.2 mM and a Km for pyridoxal-5'-phosphate of 0.04 microM.