Purification and characterization of levanase from Actinomyces viscosus ATCC 19246

The extracellular levanase of Actinomyces viscosus ATCC 19246 was purified about 3,701-fold in 11% yield from the bacterial culture supernatant by means of ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by DE52 column chromatography, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, hydroxylapatite column chromatography, and Bio-Gel A 1.5m gel filtration. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 89,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was optimally reactive at pH 6.0 and at 45 degrees C. The activity was inhibited by MnCl2, BaCl2, FeCl3, ZnCl2, HgCl2, and EDTA at a final concentration of 1 mM. The inhibition by EDTA was recovered by adding CaCl2 or MgCl2. The enzyme specifically hydrolyzed levan, but not sucrose, raffinose, melezitose, inulin, and dextran. These results indicate that the purified enzyme is specific for fructan (i.e., levan), which mainly consists of beta-(2,6) linkages.