Screening of Industrially Important Enzymes Produced by Moderately Halophilic Bacteria Isolated from Salted Sheep Skins of Diverse Origin

Abstract

Moderately halophilic bacteria have received attention in severalindustries due to their industrial enzymes which are stable athigh temperatures, various salt concentrations and different pHvalues. Therefore, this study was conducted to isolate andidentify moderately halophilic bacteria found on salted sheepskin samples and to detect the isolates producing industriallyimportant enzymes. These skin samples were from Australia,Bulgaria, Dubai, Greece, Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, Turkeyand U.S.A. Phenotypic characteristics and comparative partial16S rRNA gene sequence analysis were used to characterize thesemicroorganisms. According to the test results, 77 isolatesrepresenting 13 genera and 29 species were identified. Thesemoderately halophilic bacteria, which were able to mostly growin the media containing 3-15% salts and in some cases, up to20-25% salts, were closely related to species of generaStaphylococcus, Salimicrobium, Bacillus, Salinicoccus,Planococcus, Alkalibacillus, Gracilibacillus, Oceanobacillus,Marinococcus, Halomonas, Salinivibrio, Chromohalobacter, andIdiomarina. A fairly high percentage of the isolates (79%)produced a great variety of industrially important enzymes.Protease, lipase, ?-galactosidase, amylase, caseinase, DNase,urease, cellulase, and lecithinase enzymes were producedrespectively by 46, 33, 30, 20, 18, 13, 9, 9, and 8 isolates. None ofthe isolates produced pullulanase, xylanase and phospholipaseenzymes. Combined enzymatic activities have been detectedamong the isolates. While 12% and 27% of isolates produced sixand four different enzymes, respectively, 1% of isolates producedthree different enzymes. Furthermore, 39% of the isolatesproduced one and two enzymes. These enzymes were producedby isolates belonging to all genera detected in this study exceptgenus Alkalibacillus. The findings of this study demonstratedthat moderately halophilic bacteria on the skins producedindustrially important enzymes which may have potentialapplications in different industries.