In the current study, bacteria isolated from sea water samples of Murdeshwar, Karnataka, were screened for the production of alkaline protease by culturing them onto skim milk agar media. Of the isolated bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Alcaligenes faecalis showed distinct zones of hydrolysis due to enzyme production. They were each inoculated into enzyme production media under submerged fermentation conditions at 37 °C for 48 h with a constant agitation of 120 rpm. Partial purification of alkaline protease was carried out by isoelectric precipitation. Enzyme activity was determined under varying conditions of pH, incubation temperature, different substrates, carbon and nitrogen sources and salt concentrations using sigma’s universal protease activity assay. Enzyme immobilization was carried out using 2% Sodium alginate and 0.1 M ice cold CaCl2 and its activity under varying pH, temperature conditions and detergent compatibility was assayed. Efficacy of enzyme in stain removal was tested and haemolysis was observed within of 60 s which resulted in removal of the stain. Among the three organisms, enzyme from Bacillus subtilis showed highest activity in all cases indicating that it was the most ideal organism for enzyme production.

The aim of this work was to analyse the comparative effects of the antibacterial properties of partially purified lectins from the seeds of Artocarpus heterophyllus (jack fruit), Canavalia ensiformis (jack bean), Lens culinaris (lentil) and Pisum sativum (pea) against the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The lectins were isolated by partial purification using ammonium sulphate precipitation and dialysis. The antimicrobial activity was studied using agar well diffusion method. The results showed that the Jack fruit lectin had a potent anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa whereas Pea and jack bean lectin were found to be effective bacteriostatic agents which reduced the growth of bacteria and lentil lectin showed the least antibacterial activity. A comparison of the antibacterial activity of phytolectins with conventional antibiotics namely ampicillin and tetracycline was also carried out. Studies revealed that the antibacterial activities of the conventional antibiotics are higher than that of the plant extracts at the same concentration in accordance to literature.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/icpj.v2i2.13192 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal 2013, 2(2): 18-22

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