A Specific Pullulanase for ${\alpha}$-1,6-Glucosidic Linkage of Glucan from Thermus caldophilus

A thermostable pullulanase has been isolated and purified from Thermus caldophilus GK-24 to a homogeneity by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 431-fold increase from the crude culture broth with a recovery of 11.4%. The purified enzyme showed $M_{r}$ of 65 kDa on denaturated and natural conditions. The pI of the enzyme was 6.1 and Schiff staining was negative, suggesting that the enzyme is not a glycoprotein. The enzyme was most active at pH 5.5. The activity was maximal at $75^{\cire}C$ and stable up to $95^{\cire}C$ for 30 min at pH 5.5. The enzyme was stable to incubation from pH 3.5 to pH 8.0 at $4^{\cire}C$ for 24hr. The presence of pullulan protected the enzyme from heat inactivation, the extent depending upon the substrate concentration. The activity of the enzyme was simulated by $Mn^{2+}$ ion, }$Ni^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$ ions. The enzyme hydrolyzed the ${\alpha}$-1,6-linkages of amylopectin, glycogens, ${\alpha}$, ${\beta}$-limited dextrin, and pullulan. The enzyme caused the complete hydrolysis of pullulan to maltotriose and the activity was inhibited by $\alpha$, $\beta$, or $\gamma$-cyclodextrins. The $NH_{2}$-terminal amino acid sequence [(Ala-Pro-Gln-(Asp of Tyr)-Asn-Leu-Leu-Xaa-ILe-Gly-Ala(Ser)] was compared with known sequences of various sources and that was compared with known sequences of various sources and that was different from those of bacterial and plant enzymes, suggesting that the enzymes are structurally different.