Partial Purification and Characterization of a Polysaccharide Depolymerase Associated with Phage-Infected Erwinia amylovora

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Apr;49(4):994-6. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.4.994-996.1985.

Abstract

Erwinia amylovora infected with bacteriophage ERA103 produced an enzyme which degraded the extracellular polysaccharide of noninfected cells. The depolymerase enzyme was purified 15-fold by a procedure which included ammonium sulfate precipitation, ultracentrifugation, CM-Sephadex batchwise separation, Sephadex G-50 column chromatography, and Sephacryl S-200 column chromatography. The enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 21,000 and a pH optimum of 6.0. Activity was enhanced by supplements of 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol.