Production of Protease on Wheat Bran by a Newly Isolated Streptomyces SP. Under Solid State Fermentation

Proteases are a group of enzymes that catalyse the degradation of proteins resulting in the production of their amino acid constituents. In the present study newly isolated Streptomyces sp. was subjected to produce proteases through solid state fermentation while wheat bran was used as substrate. To produce proteases, a local strain Streptomyces sp. was isolated from a soil sample of Ezzemouls saltpan, located in Ain M'lila (East of Algeria). The phenotypic and phylogenetic studies of this strain showed that it represents probably a new species. The SSF production medium for Streptomyces sp. was optimized using Plackett and Burman statistical methods. The results showed a maximum activity on basal wheat bran medium supplemented with 1% fructose. The best SSF humidifying solution was pH 9.0 phosphate buffer at 50% moisture. Protease has an optimum at pH 7.0, which is a typical characteristic of neutral proteases. The optimum temperature was 60°C and proved stable up to 80°C. The results showed that the novel Streptomyces sp. isolate is a good producer of extracellular neutral protease on wheat bran, which can be beneficial for industries. J. Bio-Sci. 29(1): 33-48, 2021 (June)

Statistical optimization of an acid protease production by a local Aspergillus niger MH109542 using a medium based on decommissioned dates

The production of an acid protease by liquid fermentation is performed on a medium based on decommissioned dates by a local mold isolated from an extreme environment. The used mold is isolated from the thermal soil in Hammam Safsaf of Teleghma (Algeria). Phenotypic and molecular identification has shown that it is Aspergillus niger. This fungi strain exhibited exo-protease activity on milk agar. The fermentation medium based on decommissioned dates is enriched by other factors according to a statistical method; the plan of Plackett and Burman. This method (N = 8 experiments and N-1 factors) allowed the optimization of the enzyme production and the growth of the mold. The statistical analysis of the obtained results shows an increased enzyme activity (650.20U), in the presence of yeast extract and salts with probabilities p = 0.239 for the first and p = 0.190 for the second. Furthermore, the corn-steep-liquor (p = 0.229) and yeast extract (p = 0.053) present a significant effect on mold growth. In conclusion, the culture of A. niger on optimized medium gives good yields of biomass and proteolytic activity compared to the basal medium. These results are encouraging. In fact, the use of a cheap and available substrate such as decommissioned dates saves the cost price of fermentation on an industrial scale.