Production, characterization and application of lipases from endophytic and rhizospheric bacterial isolates

Bacterial lipases are diverse and are widely used as industrial enzymes. The widespread application of bacterial lipases has encouraged researchers to explore new lipase-producing bacterial strains. In this study, two bacterial strains associated with the salt marsh plant, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum were investigated for lipase production. The endophytic Bacillus licheniformis E3 and rhizospheric Bacillus sp. R7 produced 4.37 and 16.67 IU mL-1 of lipase, respectively, when cultivated in the medium containing the powdered seeds of A. macrostachyum. The design of the experiment using the Plackett-Burman design helped improve the titers by 1.2 to 2 folds. Moreover, the lipase activity of both strains was characterized using the Central Composite design. Under optimum conditions, lipase activity reached to 100-200 IU mL-1 which corroborated the 16-32 folds enhancement in lipase activity. Both lipases were compatible with the commercial detergent and could remove the olive-oil stain from the cotton fabric. (author)