Effects of detergents on specific activity and enantioselectivity of the epoxide hydrolase from Rhodotorula glutinis

The yeast Rhodotorula glutinis contains an enantioselective epoxide hydrola se. Previous work showed that the enzyme is a membrane-associated enzyme th at can be solubilised from the membranes by a detergent treatment. Now, the effect of detergents on reaction rate and particularly enantioselectivity was investigated. Three types of detergents were tested: non-ionic, anionic and zwitterionic. Non-ionic detergents stimulated the specific activity of the enzyme. Enantioselectivity of the enzyme was strongly affected by seve ral detergents. Thesit and sucrosemonolaurate had the most pronounced effec ts and enantiomeric ratios were strongly enhanced. The effects are most lik ely due to the ability of detergents to stabilise membrane-proteins by form ing micelles and thus mimicking the membrane structure. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience Inc. All rights reserved.