enzyme activity

[forcedgenius]

hi...i'm working on the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. I have been reading literatures about effects of enzyme loading on sugar yield. I'm very confused about the units they use, FPU, CBU, IU, etc. since this is not really our focus in Chemical Engineering. I need to add 30, 50 and 60 FPU of enzyme per g cellulose. But my literature gives me the enzyme activity as 3200 IU/g. can somebody please help me know how to convert this? Or is there really a way to do it? Should I do the filter paper assay procedure? Please please...need your help.

[BurningKrome]

Hi.

 

Here is a link to a different thread which discusses the units.

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/37222-international-unit-iu-conversion-in-enzyme-kinetics/

 

Also, when using many enzymes (restriction digest enzymes in this case) a "unit" is defined as ...

"One unit is defined as the amount of enzyme required to digest 1 µg of λ DNA in 1 hour at 37°C in a total reaction volume of 50 µl."

 

Be sure to check the manual for the enzyme in question for definitions to be sure you've got the right unit