RESUMO
This study reports on the purification and characterization of thermostable α-amylase (α-1-4 D-glucan glucanohydrolase EC 3.2.1.1) from a newly isolated Anoxybacillus flavithermus. A. flavithermus was used, which was isolated from hot water springs of Ömer, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. The gram-positive, spore-forming, motile, moderately thermophilic bacteria were found to be a strain of A. flavithermus analysed by 16S rRNA comparison. The optimal conditions for bacterial growth were determined to be at 20 thh, 55 °C and pH 6.0. Maximum α-amylase activity was obtained at 55 °C at pH 7.0 after 24h of incubation. Thermostable α-amylase from A. flavithermus was purified by 70% (NH4)2SO4 and ion-exchange chromatography (5.2-fold; 65.8% yield). The molecular weight of α-amylase was 60 kDa, as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The α-amylase hydrolyzed soluble starch at 55 °C with Km: 0.005 mM and Vmax: 3.5 µmol min(-1).