Partial Purification and Characterization of Extracellular Protease from <i>Pedicoccus acidilactici</i>

Abstract

Microbial proteases have wide industrial applications and proteases of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have received special attention because of their importance in the food and dairy industry. Of all the LAB, the proteolytic system of the pediococci is the least studied. Therefore, this study was aimed at characterizing and purifying the protease produced by Pediococcus acidilactici grown in de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth. Casein concentration of 2% (w/v) and 2.5 ml of the crude enzyme were optimal for the activity of the protease. The crude protease had temperature and pH optima of 28 o C and 4.0 respectively thus indicating that the enzyme is a mesophilic and acidic protease. Purification of the enzyme by gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G75 following ammonium sulphate precipitation gave 2.26 fold increase in purification with specific activity of 46.13 units/mg protein while purification on Sephadex CM50 resulted in reduced purification fold (1.24 -1.59) with specific activity ranging between 25.39 -32.54 units/mg protein. The protease showed a characteristic band on SDS-PAGE and the molecular weight was estimated between 45 and 66 kDa. The potential applications of the protease are discussed.

Characteristics of proteolytic microorganisms and their effects on proteolysis in total mixed ration silages of soybean curd residue

“…The proteinase produced by a proteolytic strain of P. acidilactici has been studied previously. The results showed that the proteinase was an acidic proteinase [37], and this confirmed the result that P. acidi lactici contributed to the proteolysis in both mature TMR silages with pH values of approximately 4.2 in this experiment. Proteoyltic activities of genus Enterococci were mainly described in milk products.…”

Production Characteristics and Molecular Properties of Protease of Pediococcus acidilactici Isolated from Beef under Cold Storage

“…This value falls within the range of molecular mass of 45-55 kDa which was obtained in this study. In addition, the submissions of [92][93][94] confirmed the results obtained in this study.…”