Preparation and properties of cell-free "formic hydrogenlyase" from escherichia coli.

The available evidence indicates that formic acid is the precursor of the molecular hydrogen produced as an end product of fermentations effected by Escherichia coli, Aerobacter aerogenes, and related organisms. Formate is rapidly decomposed by these bacteria with the formation of H2 and CO2 in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme or enzyme-complex designated as "formic hydrogenlyase". One of the major obstacles in elucidating the mechanism of this decomposition has been the inability to obtain the system in the cell-free state. In the present paper the preparation and several properties of a cell-free "formic hydrogenlyase" from E. coli are described.