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A salt-tolerant cellulase secreted by a marine Bacillus sp. SR22 strain with wide resistance to temperature and pH was purified and characterized. Its approximate mass was 37 kDa. The endoglucanase, named as Bc22Cel, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration chromatography, and extraction from the gel after non-reducing sodium dodecyl sufate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimal pH value and temperature of Bc22Cel were 6.5 and 60°C, respectively. The purified Bc22Cel showed a considerable halophilic property, being able to maintain more than 70% of residual activity even when pre-incubated with 1.5 M NaCl for 1 h. Kinetic analysis of the purified enzyme showed the K m and V max to be 0.704 mg/ml and 29.85 μmol·ml -1 ·min -1 , respectively. Taken together, the present data indicate Bc22Cel as a potential and useful candidate for industrial applications, such as the bioconversion of sugarcane bagasse to its derivatives.

An endoglucanase (1,4-beta-D-glucan glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.4) from the thermophilic anaerobe Clostridium thermocellum was purified to apparent homogeneity without the use of denaturants. No carbohydrate is associated with the endoglucanase. A molecular mass of 76,000 Da was determined by SDS/PAGE. The optimal pH is 7.0 and the enzyme is isoelectric at pH 5.05. The enzyme has a temperature optimum of 70 degrees C and retains approx. 50% of its activity after 48 h at 60 degrees C. Hydrolysis of CM-cellulose takes place with a rapid decrease in viscosity but a slow liberation of reducing sugars, indicating an endoglucanase type of activity. The endoglucanase shows little ability to hydrolyse highly ordered cellulose. Cellobiose inhibits whereas Mg2+ and Ca2+ stimulate the activity. The enzyme is completely inactivated by 1 mM-Hg2+ and is inhibited by a thiol-blocking reagent.