Technological application of an extracellular cell lytic enzyme in xanthan gum clarification

An extracellular cell lytic enzyme from Pseudomonas sp. was active on heat killed cells of Xanthomonas campestris. The lytic activity caused enzymatic digestion of X.campestris xanthan gum. Digestion was effective for highly viscous native xanthan 2.0% (w/v) and 2.5% (w/v) commercial Sigma xanthan. Scanning electron microscopy and SDS-PAGE observations confirmed the cell lytic action on X.campestris cells.