Vinayak Ram Tripathi

An antibiotic, heavy metal resistant and halotolerant Bacillus cereus SIU1 and its thermoalkaline protease.

BackgroundMany workers have reported halotolerant bacteria from saline conditions capable of protease production. However, antibiotic resistance and heavy metal tolerance pattern of such organisms is not documented very well. Similarly, only a few researchers have reported the pattern of pH change of fermentation medium during the course of protease production. In this study, we have isolated a halotolerant Bacillus cereus SIU1 strain from a non-saline environment and studied its antibiotic and heavy metal resistance pattern. The isolate produces a thermoalkaline protease and changes the medium pH during the course of fermentation. Thermostability of protease was also studied for 30 min.ResultsSeventy bacterial strains isolated from the soils of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India were screened for protease production. All of them exhibited protease activity. However, 40% bacterial isolates were found good protease producers as observed by caseinolytic zones on milk agar plates. Among them, culture S-4 was adjudged as the best protease producer, and was identified as Bacillus cereus by morphological, biochemical and 16 S rDNA sequence analyses. The isolate was resistant to heavy metals (As2+, Pb2+, Cs1+) and antibiotics (penicillin, lincomycin, cloxacillin, pefloxacin). Its growth behavior and protease production was studied at 45°C and pH 9.0. The protease units of 88 ml-1 were noted in unoptimized modified glucose yeast extract (GYE) medium during early stationary phase at 20 h incubation period. The enzyme was stable in the temperature range of 35°-55°C.ConclusionsAn antibiotic and heavy metal resistant, halotolerant Bacillus cereus isolate is capable of producing thermoalkaline protease, which is active and stable at pH 9.0 and 35°-55°C. This isolate may be useful in several industrial applications owing to its halotolerance and antibiotic and heavy metal resistance characteristics.

Comparative one-factor-at-a-time, response surface (statistical) and bench-scale bioreactor level optimization of thermoalkaline protease production from a psychrotrophic Pseudomonas putida SKG-1 isolate

BackgroundProduction of alkaline protease from various bacterial strains using statistical methods is customary now-a-days. The present work is first attempt for the production optimization of a solvent stable thermoalkaline protease by a psychrotrophic Pseudomonas putida isolate using conventional, response surface methods, and fermentor level optimization.ResultsThe pre-screening medium amended with optimized (w/v) 1.0% glucose, 2.0% gelatin and 0.5% yeast extract, produced 278 U protease ml-1 at 72 h incubation. Enzyme production increased to 431 Uml-1 when Mg2+ (0.01%, w/v) was supplemented. Optimization of physical factors further enhanced protease to 514 Uml-1 at pH 9.0, 25°C and 200 rpm within 60 h. The combined effect of conventionally optimized variables (glucose, yeast extract, MgSO4 and pH), thereafter predicted by response surface methodology yielded 617 U protease ml-1 at glucose 1.25% (w/v), yeast extract 0.5% (w/v), MgSO4 0.01% (w/v) and pH 8.8. Bench-scale bioreactor level optimization resulted in enhanced production of 882 U protease ml-1 at 0.8 vvm aeration and 150 rpm agitation during only 48 h incubation.ConclusionsThe optimization of fermentation variables using conventional, statistical approaches and aeration/agitation at fermentor level resulted in ~13.5 folds increase (882 Uml-1) in protease production compared to un-optimized conditions (65 Uml-1). This is the highest level of thermoalkaline protease reported so far by any psychrotrophic bacterium.

Downstream processing, characterization, and structure–function relationship of solvent-, detergent-, psychro-, thermo-, alkalistable metalloprotease from metal-, solvent-tolerant psychrotrophic Pseudomonas putida SKG-1 isolate

The purification and characterization of psychro‐thermoalkalistable protease from psychrotrophic Pseudomonas putida isolate is being reported for the first time. A ∼53 kDa protease was purified 21.4‐folds with 57.2% recovery by ultrafiltration and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Kinetic analyses revealed the Km and Vmax to be 1.169 mg mL−1 and 0.833 mg mL−1 min−1, respectively. The kcat value of 3.05 × 102 s−1 indicated high affinity and catalytic efficiency toward casein. The protease was most active at pH 9.5 and 40°C, with 100% stability in pH and temperature range of 6.0–11.0 and 10–40°C, respectively. Presence of Zn2+ increased the thermostability of protease (at 70°C) by 433%. Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and 1,10‐phenanthroline were inhibitory, whereas phenyl methyl sulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), p‐chloro mercuric benzoate (PCMB), and β‐mercaptoethanol were ineffective, revealing the enzyme to be a metalloprotease. Zinc, calcium, iron, nickel, and copper at 1 mM increased the enzyme activity (102–134%). Complete reversion of enzyme inhibition (caused by Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid [EDTA]) by Zn2+ affirmed this enzyme as zinc‐dependent metalloprotease. At 0.1% concentration, Triton X‐100 and Tween 80 slightly increased, while SDS and H2O2 reduced the protease activity. In the presence of 0.1% commercial detergents, the enzyme was fairly stable (54–81%). In the presence of organic solvent, the protease was remarkably stable exhibiting 72–191% activities. In contrast, savinase exhibited good stability in the presence of hydrophilic solvents, while chymotrypsin showed elevated activities with benzene, toluene, and xylene only. Circular dichroism analysis revealed the protease as a β‐rich protein, having large fraction (∼40%) of β‐sheets. Presence of different environmental conditions altered the β‐content, which accordingly affected the protease activity.