D-ERYTHRULOSE REDUCTASE CAN ALSO REDUCE DIACETYL - FURTHER PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF D-ERYTHRULOSE REDUCTASE FROM CHICKEN LIVER

We have discovered new characteristics of D-erythrulose reductase, nam ely, that it can catalyze reduction of not only D-erythrulose but also such diketones as diacetyl, These substrates have a common structure with two neighboring carbonyls possibly in s-cis plane structure, show ing that the enzyme may rigorously distinguish between substrates and other compounds. D-Erythrulose reductase was predominantly located in the kidney and the liver of the chicken. The obtained results suggest that D-erythrulose reductase plays an important role in metabolizing a lpha-dicarbonyls in animal organs, because these diketones widely occu r in natural foods.