Some properties of a fungal beta-D-glucanase preparation

A commercial enzyme preparation, of fungal origin, contained a mixture of beta-D-glucanases which were fractionated by ion-exchange chromatography to give a mixture of an endo-(1 leads to 4)- and an exo-(1 leads to 3)-beta-D-glucanase. These two enzymes were then separated by molecular-sieve chromatography on Sephadex G-150. The purified exo-(1 leads to 3)-beta-D-glucanase has a relatively high specificity for (1 leads to 3)-beta-D-glucosidic linkages, and has no action on lichenin.