ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION OF ASCORBATE OXIDASE FROM ACREMONIUM SP HI-25

A screening test was undertaken to isolate microorganisms that produced ascorbate oxidase. The enzyme activity was found in a culture filtrate of a fungal strain (HI-25), newly isolated from a soil sample. Based on the morphological characteristics, this isolate was identified as Acremonium sp. From the examinations of cultural conditions, optimum conditions for enzyme production were found; strain HI-25 was aerobically cultured by a jar fermenter at 25-degrees-C in a medium containing 5% glycerol, 2% defatted soybeans, 0.1% monosodium L-glutamate, 0.1% KH2PO4, 0.02% MgSO4.7H2O, and 0.01% KCl, pH 6.0. After cultivation, an ascorbate oxidase was purified from the culture filtrate by an ammonium sulfate fractionation, column chromatographies on DEAE-cellulose and Butyl-Toyopearl, and gel filtration twice on Sephadex G-100. The purification was 850-fold with an activity yield of 8.8%. The purified enzyme gave a single band on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and had a molecular weight of 80,000 by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 76,000 by native gel filtration. This enzyme was most active at pH 4.0, 45-degrees-C, and was most stable between pH 6.0-10.0 and at temperatures below 60-degrees-C.