Abstract
Polygalacturonase of Byssochlamys fulva was purified and characterized. Specific activity increased from 2.21 units/mg protein to 10.47 units/mg protein through $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ treatment, SephadexG-100 gel filtration, and DEAE-Sephadex ion exchange chromatography. Divalent cations, such as $Ca^{++}\;and\;Cu^{++}$, increased polygalacturonase activity greatly. Added as $10^{-3}M$ concentration, $Ca^{++}$ ion enhanced enzyme activity 9.8folds. Optimum temperature was $50^{\circ}C$ and optimum pH was 5.0. Activation energy of reaction was 8.69 Kcal/mole. Michaelis-Menten $constant(K_M)\;and\;V_{max}$ of reaction were $6.27{\times}10^{-3}mole/l\;and\;2.85{$\mu}moles/min$. Polygalacturonase of Byssochlamys fulva preferred polygalacturonic acid to pectin as substrate and was presumed as endo-type on the basis of the relationship between viscosity reduction and substrate degradation. Molecular weight of polygalacturonase was estimated as 55,000.