Cereal Chem 56:298 - 302.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Modification of Wheat Beta-Amylase by Proteolytic Enzymes.

J. E. Kruger. Copyright 1979 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Two beta-amylase components, I and II, were separated from wheat flour by N, N-diethyl aminothyl- cellulose and CM-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. Component I contained three main forms and compomemt II contained one form when analyzed by polyacrylamide slab electrofocusing. A papain or a malted wheat extract converted the three beta-amylases in component I to five forms with more basic pI values than the one beta-amylase in component II to three forms with pI values identical to those arising from degradation of component I. The new beta-amylases resulting from proteolytic attack were identical in pI values to beta-amylases in germinating wheat, thus indicating that the mechanism of formation of such enzymes is via limited proteolytic degradation.