Wool-associated proteolytic bacteria, isolated from Portuguese Merino breed

abstract

The main purpose of this study was to isolate and briefly characterize proteolytic bacteria from a poorly known habitat - raw wool. Fleece samples were accordingly collected from Merino raw wool - a Portuguese ewe breed, at three distinct areas of their body, from animals exhibiting no symptoms or signs of abnormalities: they were then subjected to enumeration and isolation of a total of 158 bacterial strains. Said isolates were screened for protease activity, using the spot technique, on Calcium Caseinate Agar containing 1% (w/v) skim milk. The 36 isolates displaying the highest protease activity underwent a more refined assessment of enzymatic performance - by examining their cell-free supernatant extracts, using casein as substrate. Two Bacillus isolates were eventually chosen owing to their highest proteolytic activities (24.6 and 15.9 U/mL), and identified using molecular biology tools. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

keywords

SHEEP FLEECE; ALKALINE PROTEASES; AGAR PLATES; STRATEGIES; ENZYMES; ROT

subject category

Agriculture

authors

Queiroga, AC; Pintado, ME; Malcata, FX

Groups

acknowledgements

Author A.C. Queiroga received a Ph.D. fellowship (ref. SFRH/BD/19212/2004), granted by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and supervised by author F.X. Malcata. Partial funding to cover research expenses was via projects

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