POLYCAPROLACTONE DEPOLYMERASE PRODUCED BY THE BACTERIUM ALCALIGENES-FAECALIS

Several microorganisms were isolated as bacteria degrading polycaprola ctone (PCL), and one of them, a strain B273 identified as Alcaligenes faecalis, was selected. Because this strain produced only slight PCL d epolymerase activity, the hyperproducing mutant, TS22, was isolated af ter UV irradiation. Synthesis of PCL depolymerase was derepressed, pro bably based on the altered regulation of metabolic pathways in strain TS22. The partially purified enzyme hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl fatty aci ds and triglycerides other than PCL, but not poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), indicating that PCL depolymerase may be a kind of lipase.