Characterization of protease enzyme isolated from Bacillus megaterium T50 isolate

In recent years, it is increased to use the microbial enzymes for industrial applications. Bacillus bacteria being the source of many enzymes in microbial sources have increased the interest in these bacteria. In this study, protease enzyme isolated form Bacillus megaterium T50 isolate is characterized. The effects of temperature, pH, some organic solvents and detergents on protease enzyme activity were investigated. Its molecular weight was determined by SDS-PAGE. Protease activity is detected the highest in skimmed milk powder medium. The highest activity production as depend on the time, it is found at 72 nd hours. Maximum activity of enzyme is determined at pH 8 and 30 °C. Enzyme activities are observed high activity in the presence of hexane. Enzyme activity decreasedin the presence of isopropanol, ethyl acetate, methanol, acetonitrile and butan-1-ol. While NH4Cl, MgCl2, MnCl2, CaCl2 increased the enzyme activity, CuCl2, ZnCl2, CdCl2, CoCl2, and NiCl2 decreased. SDS-PAGE analysis results showed that there were three proteases having molecular weights about 20 kDa, 80 kDa, and 225 kDa. Key Words: Enzyme, Bacillus, Protease, Skimmed Milk Powder