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An exoenzyme, or extracellular enzyme, is an enzyme that is secreted by a cell and functions outside that cell. Exoenzymes are produced by both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and have been shown to be a crucial component of many biological processes. Most often these enzymes are involved in the breakdown of larger macromolecules.
Alkaline lysis is the process of isolating plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in bacteria. It is a standard method used in molecular biology to isolate the plasmid without obtaining chromosomal DNA. The first alkaline lysis was performed by Birnom and Doly in 1979. [ 1 ]
The most common method is alkaline lysis, which involves the use of a high concentration of a basic solution, such as sodium hydroxide, to lyse the bacterial cells. [15] [16] [17] When bacteria are lysed under alkaline conditions (pH 12.0–12.5) both chromosomal DNA and protein are denatured; the plasmid DNA however, remains stable.
Extracellular enzyme production supplements the direct uptake of nutrients by microorganisms and is linked to nutrient availability and environmental conditions. The varied chemical structure of organic matter requires a suite of extracellular enzymes to access the carbon and nutrients embedded in detritus .
Enzyme denaturation is normally linked to temperatures above a species' normal level; as a result, enzymes from bacteria living in volcanic environments such as hot springs are prized by industrial users for their ability to function at high temperatures, allowing enzyme-catalysed reactions to be operated at a very high rate.
Phage lytic enzymes produced during bacteriophage infection are responsible for the ability of these viruses to lyse bacterial cells. [2] Penicillin and related β-lactam antibiotics cause the death of bacteria through enzyme-mediated lysis that occurs after the drug causes the bacterium to form a defective cell wall. [3]
Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) is an aqueous extract of motile blood cells from the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus.LAL reacts with bacterial endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are components of the bacterial capsule, the outermost membrane of cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria.
In recent years, however, the detection of malate synthase (MS) and isocitrate lyase (ICL), key enzymes involved in the glyoxylate cycle, in some animal tissue has raised questions regarding the evolutionary relationship of enzymes in bacteria and animals and suggests that animals encode alternative enzymes of the cycle that differ in function ...