Abstract
An obligate alkalophilic Bacillus sphaericus strain, isolated from alkaline soils in the Himalaya, produced an extracellular protease which was optimally active at 50–55 °C and pH 10.5. The enzyme was stable in presence of 500 mg chlorine l−1 and as a detergent additive. Its stability in presence of laundry detergents was comparable to that of commercial proteases. The gelatin layer in 25 g of used X-ray films was efficiently hydrolyzed within 12 min at 50 °C, pH 11.0 and 25 U protease/ml.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Durham DR, Stewart DB, Stellwag EJ (1987) Novel alkaline — and heat-stable serine proteases from alkalophilic Bacillus sp. strain GX6638. J. Bacteriol. 169: 2762–2768.
Foley PR, Jones LA (1999) US Patent No. 5 858 946.
Fujiwara N, Yamamoto K, Masui A (1991) Utilization of a thermostable alkaline protease from an alkalophilic thermophile for the recovery of silver from used X-ray film. J. Ferment. Bioeng. 72: 306–308.
Horikoshi K, Akiba T (1982) Alkalophilic Microorganisms: A New Microbial World, 1st edn. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Inhs DA, Schmidt W, Richter FR (1999) US Patent No. 5 861 366.
Samal BB, Karan B, Stabinsky Y (1990) Stability of two novel serine proteinases in commercial laundry detergent formulations. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 35: 650–652.
Yoshida K, Hidaka H, Miyado S, Shibata U, Saito K, Yamada Y (1977) Purification and some properties of Bacillus sphaericus protease. Agric. Biol. Chem. 41: 745–754.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, J., Vohra, R. & Sahoo, D. Alkaline protease from a new obligate alkalophilic isolate of Bacillus sphaericus . Biotechnology Letters 21, 921–924 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005502824637
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005502824637