| abstract |
Microbial cell aggregates with high penicillin acylase content consist of enzyme contg. microorganism cells chemically bonded, to each other or to cells of different organisms, by a bi- or poly-valent aldehyde, esp. glutaraldehyde. The carrier cells can be native and/or physically, chemically or biologically modified cells, or their insoluble fragments of various morphology. These cells or fragments are pref. in the form of fibres, spheres, ellipsoids etc. of dimension 1-1000 mu m, or in forms prod. by spontaneous or artificial autolysis or by other cell-destruction processes. Used for converting penicillins, esp. benzylpenicillin, to 6-APA. The aggregates are stable and can be used in enzyme reactors for a long time. They have good sedimentation and mechanical properties and allow easy sepn. of the prod. The carriers, e.g. waste cells from brewing or antibiotics mfr., are much cheaper than previously proposed. |