Team:Utah State/Results/Amylase

Mechanism of Amylase

The enzyme α-amylase is a hydrolase that is responsible for breaking down starch and other related sugars. To break down starch, α-amylase hydrolyzes the α-1,4 glycosidic linkages between each glucose monomer [1]. Because α-amylase is an enzyme, it has many operating conditions that need to be met in order to work at its maximum capacity. The optimum temperature is anywhere between 30 and 37°C, and the optimum pH is between 7.0 and 8.0. With that said, these enzymes can still be very active at lower temperatures and higher pH, which makes them useful in the detergent industry [2] For a bacterial culture of α-amylase producing bacteria, it is crucial that starch or maltose is included to provide a substrate for the α-amylase [3]. The active site of α-amylase consists of a trio of acidic residues: glutamate 233, aspartate 197, and aspartate 300 (see Figure 1) [4].