Isolation and Characterization of Protease from Bacillus spp and Serratia spp

Abstract

Proteases are the largest group of enzymes that have a wide variety of industrial
applications in detergent, leather industry, pharmaceutical industry and bioremediation processes. In the current study, processed water from Pallavaram
leather industry (Chennai & Tamilnadu) was used for isolation of organisms producing protease. Bacillus spp and Serratia spp were isolated on 0.5% casein minimal media. The presence of protease was confirmed by paper chromatography and estimated by ninhydrin method. The protease activity of Bacillus species was high at the temperature of 60oC, pH 9 and the concentration was found to be 280mg/100ml, whereas the activity of protease for Serratia species was high at the temperature of 40oC, pH 5 and at concentration of 240mg/100ml. The highest concentration at which the activity of protease was maximum was 2 % for both the organisms. The protease enzyme used for the blood stain removal and degradation of outer gelatin layer of Xâ€ray films was good however chicken feather degradation was less.