CARBOHYDRATE OXIDASE FROM A RED ALGA, IRIDOPHYCUS FLACCIDUM

Abstract

Enzymes capable of oxidizing D-glucose to n-gluconic acid are known to be present in bacteria (1, 2)) fungi ( 3)) and animal tissues (4, 5).However, no such enzyme has hit,herto been reported in a photosynthetic organism.It was observed in the course of a study of the carbohydrate metabolism of the marine red alga, Iridophycus JEaccidum ( 6), that cell-free extracts of this plant had the ability to oxidize D-glucose to n-gluconic acid.Further investigation revealed that this preparation will also oxidize D-galactose to n-galactonic acid, and several reducing disaccharides, namely maltose, lactose, and cellobiose, to their corresponding aldobionic acids.It therefore appears that this oxidase differs from other D-glucose oxidases in that it can utilize a variety of sugar substrates.The present communication is concerned with the preparation of active oxidase fractions from this red alga, the purification, and study of the properties of the enzyme.EXPERIMENTAL