**6. References**


The biological catalyzers present several advantages over their chemical similar, particularly, the regio and stereoselectivity that lead to the formation of products which are enantiomerically pure and in conformity with the norms established for the food, pharmaceutical and agriculture industry. The enzymes are efficient under the energetic point of view, operating in controlled pH, temperature and pressure. The development of the recombinant DNA technology enabling the expression of enzymes in different hosts has

Several methods are attributed to enzymatic determinations. The most widely used are the colorimetric ones, where the reactions occur with specific substrates, generally leading to the formation of colored products, which can be easily quantified in spectrophotometers or through acrylamide gel electrophoresis, non-denaturing conditions. The detection of enzymatic activity through PAGE involves the migration potential of the enzyme in gel, which is influenced by the molar mass of the protein and its loads in specific pH. Thus, the visualization of the enzymatic activity in gels is seen as an advantaging condition, once that it is possible to consider that hardly did that enzyme migrate together with interferents or contaminating substances that could be in a crude extract and that could lead to errors in the enzymatic levels. PAGE for enzymatic activities can be considered as an elegant method that

The zymogram technique demands low enzyme concentrations, which can reach the order of nanograms. Several adaptations of substrates may be made in this technique, because the majority of substrates used are low-cost and yield good results. With this technique, we can infer how many types or isoforms of enzymes of a same class are present in the crude extract, for example, what the molar mass is and even in some cases, the quantification.

Hence, the proposal for the optimization of stages of enzymatic activity detection in electrophoresis must be conducted for each specific extract to be studied, yielding in this

Dr. Maria de Lourdes T.M. Polizeli and Dr Hamilton Cabral are Research Fellows of CNPq. Dr Simone C. Peixoto-Nogueira, Dr Tony M. Silva and Dr Alexandre Maller are recipients of FAPESP Fellowship. This chapter concerns research data of the project National System for Research on Biodiversity (SISBIOTA-Brazil, CNPq 563260/2010-6/FAPESP number

Aquino, A.C.M.M., Jorge, J.A., Terenzi, H.F. & Polizeli, M.L.T.M. (2001).Thermostable

Aquino, A.C.M.M., Jorge, J.A., Terenzi, H. F. & Polizeli, M.L.T.M. (2003). Studies on a

*thermophilum*. *Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology*, Vol. 61, pp. 323-328.

glucose-tolerant glucoamylase produced by the thermophilic fungus *Scytalidium* 

thermostable alpha-amylase from the thermophilic fungus *Scytalidium* 

2010/52322-3). We thank Dr. Abilio for the English technical assistance.

*thermophilum* 15.1. *Folia Microbiologica*, Vol. 45 (6), pp. 11-16.

resulted in the production of more efficient biological catalyzers.

has been increasingly employed in researches.

way high sensitivity and precision.

**5. Acknowledgment** 

**6. References** 

**4. Conclusion** 


**Part 2** 

**Electrophoresis Application in Bacteriology,** 

**Parasitology, Mycology and Public Health** 

