Clostridium perfringens polynucleotide phosphorylase: Interconversion of heavy and light molecular weight species☆

Abstract Evidence is presented showing that the 200 000 species (S 20, W = 9S) of Clostridium perfringens polynucleotide phosphorylase is partially converted into a 70 000 species (S 20, W = 4.5S) by 30 minutes preincubation at 25°C with β-mercaptoethanol. The two species, which have different catalytic properties, can also be distinguished by their different mobility through disc electrophoresis technique on acrylamide gel. Interconversion of the two species is studied.