• Mycobiology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.74-78
• /
• 2004

An alkaline protease produced by Aspergillus niger C-15 was purified and characterized. The enzyme was purified 19.41-fold with a specific activity of 74150 U/mg and a recovery of 34.4% by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 34 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature for the protease activity were pH 8.0 and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme activity inhibited by EDTA suggests that the preparation contains a metalloprotease. The enzyme activity of the metalloprotease was completely inhibited by 5 mM $HgCl_2$ and $FeCl_3$, while partially inhibited by $CuSO_4$, and $MnCl_2$. When polyols such as glycerol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol, were added to the reaction medium, most polyols tested enhanced protease activity. Especially, glycerol showed the highest effect. The alkaline metalloprotease was stable at high temperature and retained more than 90% of the initial activity at $60^{\circ}C$ and 86.4% under addition of glycerol.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.11
• /
• pp.1536-1543
• /
• 2013

Proteases produced by Xenorhabdus are known to play a significant role in virulence leading to insect mortality. The present study was undertaken to purify and characterize protease from Xenorhabdus indica, an endosymbiont of nematode Steinernema thermophilum, and to decipher its role in insect mortality and its efficacy to control Helicoverpa armigera. A set of 10 strains of Xenorhabdus isolated from different regions of India were screened for protease activity on the basis of zone of clearing on gelatin agar plates. One potent strain of Xenorhabdus indica was selected for the production of protease, and the highest production (1,552 U/ml) was observed at 15-18 h of incubation at $28^{\circ}C$ in soya casein digest broth. The extracellular protease was purified from culture supernatant using ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The enzyme was further characterized by SDS-PAGE and zymography, which confirmed the purity of the protein and its molecular mass was found to be ~52 kDa. Further MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis and effect of metal chelating agent 1,10-phenanthrolin study revealed the nature of the purified protease as a secreted alkaline metalloprotease. The bioefficacy of the purified protease was also tested against cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and resulted in $67.9{\pm}0.64%$ mortality within one week. This purified protease has the potential to be developed as a natural insecticidal agent against a broad range of agriculturally important insects.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.675-678
• /
• 1999

Fibrinolytic protease activity was detected in the fruit body of Pleurotus sajor-caju using a fibrin plate method. Two fibrinolytic activities (FPI and Ⅱ) were found at the regions of 14.5 and 86.0 kDa by using gel-filtration column chromatography. FPⅡ was identified as an alkaline protease, whereas FPⅠ was a neutral protease. Both were inhibited by phenanthrolin and EDTA, suggesting that they are metalloprotease. Inactivated enzyme activities were restored by adding Co/sup 2+/ or Zn/sup 2+/. Iodoacetate inhibited FPⅠ, but not FPⅡ. Both enzymes cleaved B/sub β/ and γ chains of the human fibrinogen. FPⅡ showed a preference to hydrophobic and bulky residues of nitroanilidine compounds as substrates, whereas FPⅠ preferred positively charged residues.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.307-314
• /
• 1995

Trypsin like protease (TLP) and metalloprotease (MTP) were induced in associated with the mycelium differentiation in Streptomyces albidoflavus SMF301. TLP and MTP were purified and characterized from the culture. The molecular mass of TLP and MTP were estimated to be 32 kDa and 18 kDa, respectively. The molecular mass of TLP and MTP were estimated to be 32 kDa and 18 kDa, respectively. The optimum pH and temperature of TLP were 10 and 40.$^{\circ}C$ Those of MTP were 8 and 55 $^{\circ}C$ TLP was stable at alkaline pH (6-9) and unstable above 45.$^{\circ}C$and MTP was stable at alkaline pH and unstable above 80.$^{\circ}C$ Km and Vmax values with benzoyl-arginyl p-nitroanilide of TLP were 139 $\mu$M, and 10 nmole of nitroanilide released per min per$\mu\textrm{g}$ protein, respectively. Km, and Vmax values with a synthetic substrate, leucine p-nitroanilide, or MTP were 58.9 $\mu$M, 3.47 nmol of nitroanilide released per min per$\mu\textrm{g}$protein, respectively. TLP was inhibited competitively by leupeptin; the inhibition constant was 0.0031 $\mu$M. MTP was inhibited by EDTA, phenonthroline and bestatin.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.501-506
• /
• 1992

An alkalophilic Vibrio sp. RH530 showing high proteolytic activity was isolated form soil samples by enrichment culture. The activity staining using gelatin SDS- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE ) revealed that the strain produced an alkaline major protease (Apr B) with a size of 27 kDa, and at least six minor proteases. The apparent sizes of four of the minor proteases were approximately 45, 28, 22 and 19 kDa. Apr B and five of the minor proteases were inhibited by serine protease inhibitors including PMSF and DFP, suggesting that they are serine proteases. One of the minor proteases was inhibited by metalloprotease inhibitors, not by serine protease inhibitors, indicating it to be a metalloprotease. Furthermore, the activities of Apr B and Prt 3 were not inhibited by SDS in the reaction mixture. The production of Apr B and some of the minor proteases was specifically affected by culture temperature (30 to 37.deg.C) and pH (7 to 10). The production of Apr B. Prt 2, Prt 5 and Prt 6 was mainly affected by culture temperature, while Prt 4 by culture pH. Prt 1 and Prt 3 were not affected by neither of these factors.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.245-250
• /
• 2002

Fibrinolytic enzyme has been purified from the edible mushroom, Tricholoma sejunctum using DEAE-cellulose chromatography, Phenyl-Sepharose chromatography and Mono-S column chromatography. The apparent molecular mass of purified enzyme was estimated to be 17100 Da by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 19000 Da by gel filtration, Indicating that it was a monomer. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme was Ala-Thr-Tyr-Lys-Ile-X-Ser-Ala-Thr-His-Gln-X-X-Leu-Val. It has a pH optimum at pH 9.5, suggested that purified enzyme was a alkaline protease. The activity of purified enzyme was inhibited by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline, indicating that purified enzyme is a metalloprotease. The activity of purified enzyme was increased by Zn$^{2+}$ and Co$^{2+}$, however, the enzyme activity was totally inhibited by Hg$^{2+}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.8
• /
• pp.1281-1290
• /
• 2015

Thermolysin and its homologs are a group of metalloproteases that have been widely used in both therapeutic and biotechnological applications. We here report the identification and characterization of a novel thermolysin-like protease, BtsTLP1, from insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis serovar Sichuansis strain MC28. BtsTLP1 is extracellularly produced in Bacillus subtilis, and the active protein was purified via successive chromatographic steps. The mature form of BtsTLP1 has a molecule mass of 35.6 kDa as determined by mass spectrometry analyses. The biochemical characterization indicates that BtsTLP1 has an apparent K_m value of 1.57 mg/ml for azocasein and is active between 20℃ and 80℃. Unlike other reported neutral gram-positive thermolysin homologs with optimal pH around 7, BtsTLP1 exhibits an alkaline pH optimum around 10. The activity of BtsTLP1 is strongly inhibited by EDTA and a group of specific divalent ions, with Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ showing particular effects in promoting the enzyme autolysis. Furthermore, our data also indicate that BtsTLP1 has potential in cleaning applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.349-354
• /
• 2000

Abstract A facultative alkalophilic gram-negative Vibrio metschnikovii strain RH530, isolated from the wastewater, produced several alkaline proteases (VAP) including six alkaline serine proteases and a metalloprotease. From this strain, high yielding YAP mutants were isolated by NTG treatment. The isolated mutant KS1 showed nine times more activity than the wild-type after optimization of the culture media. The production was regulated by catabolite repression when glucose was added to the medium. The effects of several organic nitrogen sources on the production of the YAP were investigated to avoid catabolite repression. The combination of 4% wheat gluten meal (WGM), 1.5% cotton seed flour (eSF), and 5% soybean meal (SBM) resulted in the best production when supplemented with 1% NaCl. The YAP showed a resistance to surfactants such as $sodium-{\alpha}-olefin$ sulfonate (AOS), polyoxy ethylene oxide (POE), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), yet not to linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS). However, the activity of the YAP was restored completely when incubated with LAS in the presence of POE or $Na_2SO_4$. The YAP was stable in a liquid laundry detergent containing 6.6% SLES (sodium lauryl ether sulfate), 6.6% LAS, 19.8% POE, and stabilizing agents for more than two weeks at $40^{\circ}C$, but the stability was sharply decreased even after 1 day when incubated at $60^{\circ}C$. A washing performance test with the YAP exhibited it to be a good washing power by showing 51 % and 60% activity at $25^{\circ}C{\;}and{\;}40^{\circ}C$, respectively, thereby indicating that the YAP also has a good detergency at a low temperature. All the results suggest that the YAP produced from the mutant strain KSI has suitable properties for use in laundry detergents.rgents.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.168-176
• /
• 2005

Vibrio vulnificus, one of the marine bacterial pathogens causing septicemia, was detected using molecular methods, namely, PCR and/or Southern hybridization, and real-time PCR. Extracted and purified total DNAs by using commercial kits were used as templates for PCR. Multiplex-PCR was conducted by employing three sets of primers for the genes, hemolysin (vvhA), phosphomannomutase (pmm), and metalloprotease (vvpE), for V vulnificus virulence. The presence of DMSO ($5\%$) and BSA ($0.1\%$) in PCR reaction mixture improved a detection efficiency by higher PCR band intensities. TaqMan real-time PCR was carried out by using gene segment of vvhA as a target. Detection limit of PCR/Southern hybridization without enrichments was to be around $10^2\;cells\;g^{-1}$ of sample. However, those three methods using the enrichment at $35^{\circ}C$ in APW showed high sensitivity ($2\~10\;cells\;g^{-1}$ of sediments). Highly sensitive detection of V vulnificus by real-time PCR was achieved within $5\~6$ hr, whereas the detection by PCR/Southern hybridization required about 36 hr. Thus, it was evident that real-time PCR is the most rapid and efficient method for detecting V vulnificus in tidal flat sediments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.627-636
• /
• 2011

A commercially important alkaline protease, produced by Bacillus sp. RRM1 isolated from the red seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty ex Silva, was first recognized and characterized in the present study. Identification of the isolated bacterium was done using both biochemical characterization as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The bacterial strain, Bacillus sp. RRM1, produced a high level of protease using easily available, inexpensive agricultural residues solid-state fermentation (SSF). Among them, wheat bran was found to be the best substrate. Influences of process parameters such as moistening agents, moisture level, temperature, inoculum concentration, and co-carbon and co-nitrogen sources on the fermentation were also evaluated. Under optimized conditions, maximum protease production (i.e., 2081 U/g) was obtained from wheat bran, which is about 2-fold greater than the initial conditions. The protease enzyme was stable over a temperature range of 30-$60^{\circ}C$ and pH 6-12, with maximum activity at $50^{\circ}C$ and pH 9.0. Whereas the metal ions $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $K^+$ enhanced the activity of the enzyme, others such as $Hg^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, and $Zn^{2+}$ had rendered negative effects. The activity of the enzyme was inhibited by EDTA and enhanced by $Cu^{2+}$ ions, thus indicating the nature of the enzyme as a metalloprotease. The enzyme showed extreme stability and activity even in the presence of detergents, surfactants, and organic solvents. Moreover, the present findings opened new vistas in the utilization of wheat bran, a cheap, abundantly available, and effective waste as a substrate for SSF.