Extraction and Activity of O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) from Microalga Chlorella sorokiniana

O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) is an enzyme catalysing the reaction of inorganic sulphide with O-acetylserine to form the S-containing amino acid L-cysteine. Here we describe an improved protocol to evaluate the activity of this enzyme from the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana. It is a colorimetric assay based on the reaction between cysteine, the product of OASTL activity, and ninhydrin reagent, which forms a thiazolidine (Thz).