Wool-associated proteolytic bacteria, isolated from Portuguese Merino breed

authors	Queiroga, AC; Pintado, ME; Malcata, FX
nationality	International
journal	SMALL RUMINANT RESEARCH
author keywords	Sheep; Fleece; Wool microflora; Keratin; Caseinolytic activity
keywords	SHEEP FLEECE; ALKALINE PROTEASES; AGAR PLATES; STRATEGIES; ENZYMES; ROT
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.
publisher	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
issn	0921-4488
year published	2013
volume	109
issue	1
beginning page	38
ending page	46
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1016/j.smallrumres.2012.09.005
web of science category	Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
subject category	Agriculture
unique article identifier	WOS:000312509900007