Studies on Turbatrix aceti beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase. 1. Purification and physicochemical characterization

N-Acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase was purified, from the culture medium of the nematode Turbatrix aceti, to homogeneity, as judged by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel and ultracentrifugation. The purification scheme involved the following steps: (i) concentration of the culture medium by ultra-filtration by an Amicon PM-30 membrane; (ii) ammonium sulfate precipitation; (iii) DEAE-Sephadex and (iv) Sephadex G-200 chromatography; and (v) affinity chromatography on succinyldiaminopropyl amino-Sepharose bearing the ligand p-aminophenyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranoside. The molecular weight of the enzyme was 112,000 +/- 4800 and 124,000 as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by gel filtration through Sephacryl S-200, respectively. The enzyme showed a pH optimum of 4.8 for N-acetylglucosaminidase and 5.4 for N-acetylgalactosaminidase. The detailed substrate specificity studies were carried out on both synthetic and natural oligosaccharides and glycopeptides. The chitin oligosaccharides and asialo-agalacto complex type as well as high mannose-type glycoproteins such as fetuin and ovalbumin, respectively, were good substrates for the enzyme. Substrate analogs in which the oxygen atom of the acetamido group was replaced by sulfur atom proved to be poor substrates.