No abstract

SummaryThe abilities of bacteria isolated from eight marine sedentary organisms, six marine sponges (Spirastrella sp., Phyllospongia sp., Ircinia sp., Aaptos sp., Azorica sp. and Axinella sp.), one soft coral (Lobophytum sp.) and one alga (Sargassum sp.) to produce industrial enzymes (amylase, carboxymethylcellulase and protease) were examined. The mean total viable counts of the bacterial isolates ranged from 8.7 × 10 4 to 8.4 × 10 5 cfu/g wet weight of the organism. All eight organisms harboured amylase (0.05-0.5 IU/ml), carboxymethylcellulase (0.05-0.5 IU/ml) and protease (0.1-0.5 IU/ml) producing bacteria. Of 56 bacterial strains tested, as many as 60 to 83% of the strains produced at least one of the three enzymes, and 47% of strains were able to produce all three enzymes. High activities (> 0.5 IU/ml) of the three enzymes were recorded in bacterial strains belonging to the genera Alcaligenes and Bacillus. From the results of this study, it appears that bacteria associated with marine sedentary organisms are the novel source of industrial enzymes for possible commercial applications and may play an important role in enzyme-catalysed organic matter cycling in marine environments.