Abstracto

Screening of Thermophilic Bacillus cereus Strains and Optimization of Growth Conditions for Mass Production of Alkaline Protease Enzyme

Vidhya Pallavi R, Kuberan T and Arumugam S

Several strains of Bacillus cereus were isolated from five soil samples collected from leather tanneries in Salem, India. The strains positive on skim milk agar (1%) were selected as protease producing strains and biochemically characterized. The strainswere found capable of growth at temperature >40ºC and in wide pH range of 7.0-12.0, The enzyme assay of strains revealedmaximumactivity at 50ºC and pH 10. The enzyme production was carried out at 37ºC for 48 hr in fementers containing 1 L medium having pH 8.0. Themolecular weight of enzyme, determined through SDSPAGE, was 6000 kDa. The study revealed that Bacillus cereus strain,which is a good producer of protease which may prove beneficial to the industries.