The first purification of the Mo-reducing enzyme from Serratia sp. strain DRY5 that is responsible for molybdenum reduction to molybdenum blue in the bacterium is reported. The monomeric enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 105 kDalton. The isoelectric point of this enzyme was 7.55. The enzyme has an optimum pH of 6.0 and maximum activity between 25 and 35 degrees C. The Mo-reducing enzyme was extremely sensitive to temperatures above 50 degrees C (between 54 and 70 degrees C). A plot of initial rates against substrate concentrations at 15mM 12-MP registered a V-max for NADH at 12.0 nmole Mo blue/min/mg protein. The apparent k(m) for NADH was 0.79mM. At 5mM NADH, the apparent V-max and apparent k(m) values for 12-MP of 12.05 nmole/min/mg protein and 3.87mM, respectively, were obtained. The catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/k(m)) of the Mo-reducing enzyme was 5.47M(-1) s(-1). The purification of this enzyme could probably help to solve the phenomenon of molybdenum reduction to molybdenum blue first reported in 1896 and would be useful for the understanding of the underlying mechanism in molybdenum bioremediation involving bioreduction.

The management of agricultural zakat in Malaysia is under the jurisdiction of States Religious Council. The objective of this paper is to analyze the nisab, rate and to assess the deduction of cost before zakat is imposed. A qualitative methodology was used to analyze the data through descriptive and comparative methods. The researchers used five states as samples, namely Selangor, Penang, Perlis, Terengganu, and Sarawak. The findings showed the inconsistency in deciding the nisab for the bushel (sa') metric weight. In addition, the variability of rates was applied in all states and the deduction of cost is allowed only in the state of Perlis. It can be summarized that the occurrence of the diversity is due to inconsistency of bushel (sa') weight in every state and there are various rates of agriculturazakat, specifically 5%, 7.5% and 10% which is set by State Islamic Religious Authority. It can be implied that fatwa issued by the State Mufti Department and Baitulmal are required to be reassessed from time to time. It is recommended that digital modern metric measurement is to be used and all costs should be deducted before they imposed agricultural zakat.