Immobilization of Streptomyces phaerochromogenes by radiation‐induced polymerization of glass‐forming monomers

Abstract Immobilization of Streptomyces phaerochromogenes was radiation induced polymerization of 2‐hydroxylate at low temperatures. Radiation damage of the enzyme could be avoided by choosing irradiation at low temperatures. The enzymatic activity of immobilized cells increased remarkably with a decrease in the irradiation temperature of about −24°C. In constrast to the case of cell‐free enzyme immobilization, the most characteristic case was that in these immobilized cells, the enzymatic activity did not decrease with repeated use even in the composite obtained at much lower monomer concentrations. Another characteristic of immobilized cells was the increase in enzymatic activity in the initial stage of repeated use, which could be attributed to the swelling effect of the polymer matrix, thereby increasing the enzymatic activity to whole cells.