title: Bioconversion of fumaric acid to L-malic acid by the bacteria of the genus Nocardia.
abstract: The bacterial strains of the genus Nocardia were used for the bioconversion of fumaric acid to L-malic acid. The ability of the bacterial strain Nocardia sp. CCM 4837/A to produce L-malic acid from fumaric acid was investigated under various conditions. The optimal temperature for the bioconversion was approximately 37 °C, and the optimal pH was around 8.0. The addition of an inductor (fumarate salt) to the fermentation medium was necessary to enhance enzyme activity. The presence of detergent Triton X-100 (0.02-0.1 %) in the reaction mixture rapidly increased the enzyme activity of fumarase. The specific fumarase activity of intact cells Nocardia sp. CCM 4837/A increased from 2.8 to 75 U/mg after optimising the experimental conditions described here. Pretreatment of the Nocardia cells with malonate was not necessary because succinate was not detected as a by-product under our experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemical Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37, Bratislava, Slovakia, helena.hronska@stuba.sk.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hronská
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tokošová
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pilniková
authors.forename: Ľudmila
authors.initials: Ľ
authors.lastname: Krištofíková
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
mesh_terms: D005649:Fumarate Hydratase; D005650:Fumarates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008293:Malates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009615:Nocardia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005650:Fumarates; D008293:Malates; C030298:malic acid; C032005:fumaric acid; D005649:Fumarate Hydratase