Purification and characterization of a kanamycin nucleotidyltransferase from plasmid pUB110-carrying cells of Bacillus subtilis.

The nucleotidyltransferase encoded by plasmid pUB110 was purified to greater than 95% purity with a 33% yield. The enzyme is a monomeric protein with a molecular weight of 34,000. The optimum pH for activity is 5, and the optimum MgCl2 concentration for activity is 18 mM. The enzyme, which is synthesized constitutively, is stable for several weeks at 4 degrees C. This enzyme would appear to be a good model gene product for the development of a pUB110 deoxyribonucleic acid-dependent in vitro protein-synthesizing system from Bacillus subtilis.