CEPHALOSPORIN-C ACYLASE AND PENICILLIN-V ACYLASE FORMATION BY AEROMONAS SP ACY-95

Aeromonas sp. ACY 95 produces constitutively and intracellularly a pen icillin V acylase at an early stage of fermentation (12 h) and a cepha losporin C acylase at a later stage (36 h). Some penicillins, cephalos porin C and their side chain moieties/analogues, phenoxyacetic acid, p enicillin V and penicillin G, enhanced penicillin V acylase production while none of the test compounds affected cephalosporin C acylase pro duction. Supplementation of the medium with some sugars and sugar deri vatives repressed enzyme production to varying degrees, The studies on enzyme formation, induction and repression, and substrate profile sug gest that the cephalosporin C acylase and penicillin V acylase are two distinct enzymes. Substrate specificity studies indicate that the Aer omonas sp. ACY 95 produces a true cephalosporin C acylase which unlike the enzymes reported hitherto hydrolyses cephalosporin C specifically .