Distribution and properties of fructosyl amino acid oxidase in fungi

Abstract

Fructosyl amino acid oxidase, an enzyme that can be used for the determination of glycated proteins in blood samples from diabetic patients, was used to screen cultures in our microorganism culture collection. Fructosyl amino acid oxidase was found only in the strains of four genera of fungi, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Gibberella, and Penicillium and exhibited different substrate specificities against fructosyl valine and N(ε)- fructosyl N(α)-Z-lysine. A fractosyl valine-specific enzyme from Penicillium janthinellum AKU3413 was monomeric (M(r), 49,000), was most active at 35°C and pH 8.0, and had a covalently bound flavin adenine dinucleotide as a prosthetic group.