CYCLIC AMIDE AMIDOHYDROLASE ACTIVITIES IN PISUM-SATIVUM HULLS

Cyclic amide amidohydrolases are important biocatalysts for the in vit ro synthesis of chiral amino acids. This paper is the first descriptio n of the occurrence of three cyclic amide amidohydrolase activities in hulls, by-products of pea crop. Partial purification of these cyclic amide amidohydrolases extracted from hulls of Pisum sativum revealed t he presence of dihydropyrimidinase, D-hydantoinase and L-hydantoinase activities. Our study shows that diversity of cyclic amide amidohydrol ases also exists in plants such as legume seeds, since cyclic amide am idohydrolases from pea hulls were shown to hydrolyse dihydrouracil, hy dantoin, L-MMEH and DL-MMEH. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.