A pathway of polygalactosamine formation in Aspergillus parasiticus: enzymatic deacetylation of N-acetylated polygalactosamine.

1. An enzyme which hydrolyzes the acetamido groups of N-acetylgalactosamine residues in N-acetylated polygalactosamine was found in the supernatant fraction of Aspergillus parasiticus AHU 7165, a polygalactosamine-producing strain. 2. N-Acetylated polygalactosamine was used as a substrate in the purification and characterization of this enzyme. A 140-fold purification was obtained by means of ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by chromatography on carboxymethylcellulose and DEAE-cellulose. 3. The enzyme releases about 60-70% of the acetyl groups of N-acetylated polygalactosamine, giving a product with free amino groups. Whereas the enzyme also deacetylates oligosaccharides with 14 or more N-acetylgalactosamine units at a rate similar to that of deacetylation of the polymer, it deacetylates shorter oligosaccharides (trimer to hexamer of N-acetylgalactosamine) much more slowly and is virtually inactive toward disaccharide. Deacetylation can not be detected with bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan, N-acetylated heparin, partially O-hydroxyethylated chitin or monomeric N-acetylgalactosamine derivatives as substrates. 4. This enzyme shows double pH optima of 5.3 and 9.3. The Km value for N-acetylated poly-galactosamine is 0.15 g/l (or 0.54 mM with respect to monosaccharide residues). 5. The occurrence of this enzyme may account for the formation of polygalactosamine with free amino groups.