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Abstract

A new aldehyde dehydrogenase having the physico-chemical properties: molecular weight:150,000.+-.6,000 or 230,000.+-.9,000; substrate specificity active on aldehyde compounds; cofactors:pyrroloquinoline quinone and heme c; optimum pH: 7.0-8.5; and inhibitors: Co.sup.2+, Cu.sup.2+, Fe.sup.2+, Ni.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, monoiodoacetate and EDTA, is derived from a microorganism belonging to the genus Gluconobacter. Said aldehyde dehydrogenase can be produced by cultivating a microorganism of the genus Gluconobacter which is capable of producing an aldehyde dehydrogenase having the above properties, in an aqueous nutrient medium under aerobic conditions, disrupting the cells of the microorganism and isolating and purifying the aldehyde dehydrogenase from the cell-free extract of the disrupted cells of the microorganism. 2-Keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA) can be produced from L-sorbosone by contacting L-sorbosone with (i) the aldehyde dehydrogenase in the presence of an electron acceptor, (ii) a Gluconobacter microorganism capable of producing the aldehyde dehydrogenase in an aqueous medium under aerobic conditions or (iii) a cell-free extract of said microorganism, and in each case isolating the resulting 2-KGA from the reaction mixture.

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