Studies on Screening and Isolation of .$\alpha$-Amylase Inhibitors of Soil Microorganisms (I)

To find emylase inhibitors produced by microorganisms from soil, a strain which had a strong inhibitory activity against bacteria .alpha.-amylase was isolated from the soil smaple collected in Seoul. The morphological and physiological characteristics of this strain on several media and its utilization of carbon sources showed that it was one of Streptomyces specties according to the international Streptomyces Project method. The amylase inhibitor of this strain was purified by means of acetone precipitation, adsorption on Amberlite XAD-2, and column chromatography on Amberlite CG-50 and SP-Sephadex C-25. The inhibitor was stable at the pH range of 1-10 and at 100.deg.C for half an hour, and had inhibitory activities against other amylases such as salivary .alpha.-amylase, pancreatic .alpha.-amylase, fungal .alpha.-amylase and glucoamylase. The kinetic studies of the inhibitor showed that its inhibitory effect on starch hydrolysis by .alpha.-amylase was non-competitive.