Characterization of Geotrichum candidum lipase III with some preference for the inside ester bond of triglyceride.

A new form of Geotrichum candidum lipase with a unique positional specificity was found to exist in the culture broth as a minor component together with the well-documented major form. Unlike the major form, which cleaves both the inside and outside ester bonds of triglyceride indiscriminately, the newly isolated form showed some preference for the inside (2-position) ester bond. The new enzyme was also characterized by its own fatty acid specificity, i.e., an outstandingly high activity towards triolein and methyl oleate among the simple triglycerides and fatty acid methyl esters tested. Moreover, the enzyme possessed a specific activity three times as high as the major form. Notable difference in circular dichroism spectra were observed between the two forms, indicating distinct conformational differences. Edman degradation revealed that the N-terminal sequence of the new form differed from that of the major form, thus demonstrating the existence of a novel lipase gene on the chromosome.