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Microbial degradation of sorbed and dissolved protein in seawater
Author(s) -
Taylor Gordon T.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1995.40.5.0875
Subject(s) - hydrolysis , chemistry , adsorption , sorption , hydrolysate , degradation (telecommunications) , protein degradation , rubisco , chromatography , biochemistry , organic chemistry , enzyme , telecommunications , computer science
The effects of adsorption and concentration on rates of protein degradation by marine bacteria were examined by measuring hydrolysis and remineralization of the radiolabeled protein, ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase‐oxygenase ([ methyl ‐ 3 H]Rubisco). Protein adsorbed at low surface concentrations on glass beads had hydrolysis and remineralization rate constants 247% and 282% higher than protein bound at high surface concentrations. Moreover, thin films of bound protein were hydrolyzed and remineralized 522% and 1,033% faster than comparable pool sizes of dissolved protein. At high concentrations, however, rates of hydrolysis and remineralization were not significantly different between proteins in dissolved or sorbed pools. Results demonstrate that proteins adsorbed to surfaces can be as bioavailable as those in solution. In fact, the sorption process may actually aid bacterial degradation by concentrating the protein and hydrolysates at an interface and by unfolding proteins to relax steric hindrance and expose a higher proportion of bonds to bacterial endo‐ and exohydrolases.