Yeast Candida antarctica produces two lipase forms, which are widely used as
catalysts in variety of organic reactions, many of which are applied on a
large scale. In this work, production of two forms of lipase from C.
antarctica DSM 70725 (CAL A and CAL B) was monitored during seven days of
cultivation in the optimal medium using different electrophoretic and
zymographic techniques. According to electrophoresis after silver staining,
C. antarctica lipase A (molecular mass 45 kDa) was produced starting from the
second day of cultivation. C. antarctica lipase B (CAL B) was also produced
starting from the second day, but protein was present in the fermentation
broth predominantly as dimer (molecular weight 66 kDa), while presence of
monomeric form of CAL B (molecular weight of 33 kDa) was observed starting
from the fourth day of cultivation. Both types of zymograms (based on
hydrolysis and synthesis reactions) were used for detection of lipase
activity in the fermentation broth. C. antarctica lipase A showed activity
only in hydrolytic zymogram, when ?-naphtyl butyrate was used as substrate.
In the same zymogram, with ?-naphtyl acetate as substrate no CAL A activity
was detected. Similarly, CAL A showed no activity in synthesis based
zymograms towards oleic acid and octanol as substrates, indicating that CAL A
is not active towards very short or long-chain substrates. As opposite of CAL
A, both monomeric and dimeric form of CAL B were detected in the all
zymograms, suggesting that CAL B is active towards wide range of substrates,
regardless to the chain length. Thus, zymogram based on hydrolysis of
?-naphtyl butyrate represents a simple method for monitoring the production
of two forms of lipase from C. antarctica, that greatly differ in their
characteristics.