The antigens of pigeon breeder's disease. IV. Detection of active enzymes in pigeon dropping extracts.

Two esterase activities were detected in pigeon dropping extracts (PDE). The first exhibited the ability to cleave p-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester (TAMe), and the second utilized alpha-naphthyl acetate as its substrate. Both enzymes were stable at a temperature of 60 degrees C. Although the enzymes could be separated from each other through gel filtration chromatography, both were associated with PDE1 (a major antigen found in pigeon droppings) throughout the fractionation procedure. In addition, it was shown that the TAMe esterase exhibited protease activity by virtue of its ability to hydrolyze alpha-casein.