Director of National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture,

Director of National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Director General of Chugoku National Agricultural Experiment Station,

Yutaka Mori

Kiyoshi Hayashi

Ken Tokuyasu

Shioka Hamamatsu

Hiroshi Ono

Mayumi Kameyama

Toshiroh Horino

Takayo Saikusa

Yuki Kitagawa

2-methyl-(4-O-(2-amino-2-deoxy-&bgr;-glucopyranosyl)-1,2-dideoxy-&agr;-glucopyrano&rcub;(2,1-D)-2-oxazoline and its salt, 50% deacetylated chitin or its oligosaccharide and salt thereof

A chitin deacetylase gene encoding a protein, a plasmid vector containing said gene and a transformant transformed with the plasmid vector. An object of the present invention is to make contribution to the industrial production of said enzyme, by cloning the gene of said enzyme to elucidate the structure of the gene and express the gene.

Chitin deacetylase gene, vector containing said gene and transformant

Disclosed is p-nitrophenyl 2-acetylamino-4-O-(2-amino-2-deoxy-.beta.-D-glucopyranosyl)-2-deoxy-.beta. -D-glucopyranoside of formula (1) and its acid-addition salts. ##STR1## The compound of formula (1) is produced by reacting a p-nitrophenyl derivative of chitin dimer with a microorganism-derived deacetylase. The compound and its salts do not act on exo-type chitinases, and are specific to only endo-type ones.

p-Nitrophenyl

Di-N-acetyl-D-chitobiose, which is easily available as a chitin decomposate or a chemical reagent, is reacted with a microorganisms-derived deacetylase to produce 2-acetylamino-4-O-(2-amino-2-deoxy-.beta.-D-glucopyranosyl)-2-deoxy-D-gluc ose of formula (1). ##STR1## The method is quantitative and efficiently produces the compound (1). The compound (1) and its salts are usable as substrates for measuring enzymatic activities, and also as starting substances in the production of various food materials and in the field of glyco-chain engineering.

Method for producing

Disclosed are .gamma.-aminobutyric acid-enriched food materials to be obtained by dipping at least one material chosen from among germs of rice, rice bran containing germs, whole rice, germs of wheat and wheat bran containing germs in water at a pH of from 2.5 to 7.5 and at 80.degree. C. or lower. Also disclosed is a method for producing .gamma.-aminobutyric acid by extracting the .gamma.-aminobutyric acid-enriched food material with an acid followed by purifying the resulting extract by ion-exchanging chromatography. These products are useful as particular nutrient foods or additives to foods for patients suffering from hypertension.

.gamma.-aminobutyric acid-enriched food material and method for

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Tsukuba, Japan

Yutaka Mori