A novel aryl acylamidase from Nocardia farcinica hydrolyses polyamide

An alkali stable polyamidase was isolated from a new strain of Nocardia farcinica . The enzyme consists of four subunits with a total molecular weight of 190 kDa. The polyamidase cleaved amide and ester bonds of water insoluble model substrates like adipic acid bishexylamide and bis(benzoyloxyethyl)terephthalate and hydrolyzed different soluble amides to the corresponding acid. Treatment of polyamide 6 with this amidase led to an increased...