Thermostable lipase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans IBRL-nra was purified and characterized. The production of thermostable lipase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans IBRL-nra was carried out in a shake-flask system at 65°C in cultivation medium containing; glucose 1.0% (w/v); yeast extract 1.25% (w/v); NaCl 0.45% (w/v) olive oil 0.1% (v/v) with agitation of 200 rpm for 24 hours. The extracted extracellular crude thermostable lipase was purified to homogeneity by using ultrafiltration, Heparin-affinity chromatography, and Sephadex G-100 gel-filtration chromatography by 34 times with a final yield of 9%. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 30 kDa after SDS-PAGE analysis. The optimal temperature for thermostable lipase was 65°C and it retained its initial activity for 3 hours. Thermostable lipase activity was highest at pH 7.0 and stable for 16 hours at this pH at 65°C. Thermostable lipase showed elevated activity when pretreated with BaCl2, CaCl2, and KCl with 112%, 108%, and 106%, respectively. Lipase hydrolyzed tripalmitin (C16) and olive oil with optimal activity (100%) compared to other substrates.

a b s t r a c tHell's Gate globin I (HGbI), a heme-containing protein structurally homologous to mammalian neuroglobins, has been identified from an acidophilic and thermophilic obligate methanotroph, Methylacidiphilum infernorum. HGbI has very high affinity for O 2 and shows barely detectable autoxidation in the pH range of 5.2-8.6 and temperature range of 25-50°C. Examination of the heme pocket by X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics showed that conformational movements of Tyr29(B10) and Gln50(E7), as well as structural flexibility of the GH loop and H-helix, may play a role in modulating its ligand binding behavior. Bacterial HGbI's unique resistance to the sort of extreme acidity that would extract heme from any other hemoglobin makes it an ideal candidate for comparative structure-function studies of the expanding globin superfamily.

Lipases (triacylglycerol acylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3), catalyze the hydrolysis of long-chain triglycerides with the formation of diacylglyceride, monoglyceride, glycerol and fatty acids. Lipases are actively used in various industries which include food and diary, pharmaceuticals, organic synthesis and detergent and cosmetics. Thermostable lipases are commercially significant for their potential use in industries as it is stable and active in organic solvents and resistance to high temperature and chemical denaturation. The production of thermostable lipase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans IBRL-nra was carried out in a shake-flasks system at 65 ºC in cultivation medium containing (%; w/v or v/v): glucose 1.0; yeast extract 1.25; NaCl 0.45 and olive oil 0.1 with agitation of 200 rpm for 24 hours. The extracted extracellular crude thermostable lipase was purified to homogeneity by using ultrafiltration, Heparin-affinity chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel-filtration chromatography by 34 folds with a final yield of 9%. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 30 kDa after SDS-PAGE analysis. Purified thermostable lipase exhibited highest stability in the presence of acetone, ethanol and acetonitrile after 1h and 24h of incubation periods. Thermostable lipase showed elevated activity (220%) when pre-treated with Triton X-100 and could withstand 100% of its activity in the presence of protease up to 4 hours and could retain 70% of its initial activity after 24 hours of incubation.

One of the major impediments to the commercialization of biodegradable plastic is the high cost of substrate. Consequently, there is a continuous search for effective microorganisms and cheaper carbon substrates to reduce the high production cost. In this study, waste transformer oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from soil, wastewater, and sediment samples, using a mineral salt medium (MSM) supplemented with 1% waste transformer oil as the sole carbon source. The isolates were screened for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production using Nile red staining and fluorescence microscopy. PHA granules accumulation was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy. Oil degradation analysis was accomplished using solvent extraction and gravimetric methods whereas, the bacteria were identified using 16S DNA sequence homology. A total of 62 transformer oil-degrading bacteria were isolated, out of which 16 (26%) showed positive results for Nile red fluorescence microscopy. The identified organisms belong to four different taxonomic genera of Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Proteus, and Serratia. The percentage of oil degradation observed among the different isolates ranged between 19.58% and 57.51%. Analysis of the PHA extracted from the selected isolate revealed the presence of medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA). The findings of this work have further highlighted the diversity of the bacteria capable of utilizing waste streams such as waste transformer oil. Consequently, the isolates can be explored as agents of converting waste transformer oil into bioplastics.

A lipase producer psychrophilic microorganism isolated from Arctic sample was studied. The genomic DNA of the isolate was extracted using modified CTAB method. Identification of the isolate by morphological and 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that the isolate is closely related to Arthrobacter gangotriensis (97% similarity). A. gangotriensis was determined as positive lipase producer based on the plate screening using specific and sensitive plate assay of Rhodamine B. The PCR result using Arthrobacter sp.'s full lipase gene sequence as the template primers emphasised a possible lipase gene at 900 bp band size. The gene is further cloned in a suitable vector system for expression of lipase.