Purification, characterization and application of novel alkaline protease from new Bacillus cereus UV-15 mutant

The alkaline protease produced by Bacillus cereus UV-15 mutant was purified by precipitation with ammonium sulphate and gel filtration through sephadex G-100. The enzyme has shown to have a molecular weight of 29kDa by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The extracted protease enzyme was purified by 16.64 fold through ammonium sulphate precipitation and chromatography separation in Sephadex G-100. The purified protease had a specific activity of 2915 (U/mg). The zymogram also revealed a clear hydrolytic zone due to proteolytic activity, which coincided with the band obtained with SDS–PAGE. The enzyme was remained active and stable at pH 8-11, with an optimum at pH 10.0. The protease was stable in the temperature ranging from 40°C to 60°C, but gradually decreased at temperature 70°C. The optimum temperature for protease activity was determined at 60°C. The enzyme showed stability towards non-ionic and anionic surfactants, and oxidizing agents. At 1% concentration of Tween-20 and Tween-80, the enzyme retained 78% and 94% relative activity respectively. Alkaline protease retained 95% activity toward 0.5% concentration of the anionic detergent SDS. The enzyme showed compatibility at 50°C with commercial detergents such as Ariel, Surf excel, Rin, wheel, Tide and Nirma. In the presence of Ariel and Rin the enzyme retained about 72 and 75% of the original activity respectively. The supplementation of the enzyme in detergents could improve the cleansing performance towards the blood stains and suggested to be used as a detergent additive. The enzyme also removed goat hide hairs completely after 15 hr of incubation. These characteristics may make the enzyme suitable for several industrial applications, especially in leather industries.