Characterization of a thermostable α-glucosidase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans F84a

Isolation of novel thermophilic bacilli has received considerable attention among the scientific community in whole world because of their biotechnological importance as they possess unique enzymes with thermal activity and stability. Of the thermophilic enzymes, we were interested in α-glucosidases which catalyze hydrolysis of terminal non-reducing α-D-glucosidic linkages of oligoand polysaccharides with the release of α-D-glucose. Thermostable α-glucosidases have a number of potential applications due to their wide range of substrate specificity and their ability of catalyzing transglucosylation reactions.