Proteases constitute most important enzymes owing to their wide variety of functions and have immense applications in various industries viz., medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, leather, detergent, and food industries. Despite of their wide spread occurrence in various sources, microorganisms present remarkable potential for proteolytic enzymes production due to their extensive biochemical diversity and susceptibility to genetic manipulation. The present study was aimed at isolating alkaline protease producing fungal members from dairy form effluents, designing the process variables for maximizing the protease production and determining the fibrinolytic potential of the partially purified alkaline protease. To achieve the specified objectives, the dairy form effluent was processed for the isolation of proteolytic fungi using suitable microbiological medium. All the fungal isolates were screened for their protease producing ability and the isolate showing highest alkaline protease production was selected for further studies. Optimization of different fermentative variables like carbon, nitrogen sources, pH, temperature and incubation period were carried out to enhance enzyme production. Ammonium sulphate fractionation was employed to partially purify the enzyme following which its fibrinolytic potential was determined. Based on morphological and microscopic studies, the selected fungal isolate was identified as Aspergillus niger. Optimization studies using OVAT (one variable at a time) method revealed an enhanced protease production in the presence of fructose as additional carbon source and ammonium sulphate as nitrogen source. The optimum incubation period, temperature and pH for enzyme production by the selected fungal isolate was found to be 92 h, 50°C and 10, respectively. The partially purified alkaline protease was efficient in the removal of blood stains emphasizing its fibrinolytic ability. An alkaline protease producing Fungal sp. was screened and isolated from dairy form effluent and it was found to be efficient in the removal of blood stains proving its fibrinolytic potential. Enzymes produced from microorganisms that can survive under extremes of pH could be particularly useful for commercial applications under high alkaline conditions.
Environmental concerns are becoming important global tasks. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains oil and grease and also rich in organic matter in the form of total suspended solids which can increase biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of POME. It is generated in huge quantities during the production of crude palm oil and pollutes land, water and atmosphere if left untreated. The current study mainly focuses on evaluating the efficacy of fungal isolates screened and isolated from POME dump sites in the bioremediation of POME. Five fungal species used in the present study were previously isolated by the author from POME dump sites of Pedavegi palm oil mill industry. Out of these, Emericella nidulans NFCCI 3643 was proven to be an excellent biological agent in reducing the organic load of POME. The organism showed 80.28% reduction in COD, 88.23% in BOD and 87.34% in oil/grease content at their optimal environmental and nutritional conditions. The mixed cultures showed better reduction efficiency as compared to individual pure cultures. The natural inhabitants of POME dump sites showed their lipolytic ability and E. nidulans was found to be an excellent agent in the bioremediation of POME. Fungal isolates in consortium can function better in bioremediating POME than individual pure cultures.
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