Abstract
SEVERAL mould species1,2 and strains of Bact-eroides3 have been shown to secrete dextranases which hydrolyse, to different degrees, dextrans of various branched structures. Although glucose, isomaltose and isomaltotriose1–3 have been shown to be among the main products of the hydrolysis, no oligosaccharides containing the glucosidic branch linkages have so far been identified in the enzyme hydrolysates. Recently, several rumen strains of an organism, closely resembling Laciobacillus bifidus 4, were found to secrete a dextranase which hydrolysed an unbranched Streptococcus bovis5 dextran to a mixture of isomalto-triose, -tetraose, -pentaose and -hexaose6. The enzyme also hydrolysed a dextran (produced by Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Birmingham strain) containing 12–15 per cent of α-1,3-branch links7 to a mixture of tri- and higher saccharides, which were not examined further. We have now investigated the oligosaccharide mixture produced by the enzyme from this and other branched dextrans.
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References
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BAILEY, R., HUTSON, D. & WEIGEL, H. Action of a Bacterial Dextranase on Branched Dextrans. Nature 186, 553–554 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/186553a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/186553a0
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