Physical and catalytic properties of CMCase encoded by Bacillus subtilis gene in B. megaterium

Carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) produced by cloned B. megaterium was found to contain 5.2% carbohydrate but no metal ion. The enzyme was isoelectric at pH 7.23 and was high is basic amino acids. The N-terminal of the enzyme was glutamic acid. The cellulolytic activity of this enzyme was extended to the small molecular substrates such as from cellotriose to cellopentaose. In additon, the enzyme showed transglycoslation activity. The pK values of the enzyme we estimated to be 4.4 and 6.7, andthat of the enzyme-substrate complex were 4.2 and 7.2, respectively. The enzyme was not affected by the treatment with iodoacetic acid, but the modification of enzyme with carbodiimide and diethyl pyrocarbonate resulted in a marked loss of the enzyme activity. These results suggest that the active site of enzyme essentially contains carboxylic and imidazole group of amino acid residues.