摘要 |
A thermostable glycerokinase enzyme useful in the detection and estimation of glycerol derivatives has a half-life in excess of 1 hour at 55 DEG C. at a protein concentration of less than 2 mg/ml and a pH of 7.8 +/-0.5 in the absence of any substrate. The enzyme is produced by culturing at least one micro-organism which is capable of growth at a temperature of at least 50 DEG C. in a culture medium in which it will produce said enzyme, disrupting the resulting cells of the micro-organism to release the enzyme and separating the enzyme from the cell debris. The medium normally contains at least 0.1% glycerol but certain strains of micro-organism have been found to be capable of producing thermostable glycerokinase enzyme even in the absence of glycerol. The micro-organism is preferably a Bacillus organism, especially of the stearothermophilus species. |