Gt. Howard et al., Growth of Pseudomonas chlororaphis on a polyester-polyurethane and the purification and characterization of a polyurethanase-esterase enzyme, INT BIO BIO, 43(1-2), 1999, pp. 7-12
A Pseudomonas chlororaphis was found to degrade and utilize a polyester pol
yurethane as a sole carbon and energy source. Polyurethane utilization by P
. chlororaphis follow led simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The k(s) and mu
(max) values were 0.802 mg.ml(-1) and 1.316 doublings.h(-1), respectively.
The enzymes from P. chlororaphis responsible for polyurethane degradation w
ere found to be extracellular. Analysis of the polyurethane degrading prote
ins, using non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, revealed thre
e active protein bands with R-f values of 0.25, 0.417 and 0.917. A polyuret
hane: degrading enzyme was purified and displayed esterase activity. This e
nzyme was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and had a molecular we
ight of 27,000 daltons. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.