Toproduce acrylamide from acrylonitrile by use of a new enzyme, nitrile hydratase, a number of nitrile-utilizing microorganisms were screened for the enzyme activity by an intact cell system. An isobutyronitrile-utilizing bacterium, strain B23, showed the best productivity among 1 86 strains tested. The strain was identified taxonomically as Pseudomonaschlororaphis. The culture and reaction conditions for the production were studied for the strain. Underthe optimumconditions, 400 grams/liter of acrylamide was produced in 7.5hr. The yield was nearly 100% with a trace amountof acrylic acid. The cell-free extract of the strain showed strong activity of nitrile hydratase toward acrylonitrile and extremely low activity of amidase toward acrylamide.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.