OPTIMISATION STUDIES IN THE PRODUCTION AND PURIFICATION OF SERRATIOPEPTIDASE FROM Serratia marscecens UV MUTANT SM3

Objective: Serratiopeptidase (SRP) is a proteolylic enzyme with wide medical applications. Serratia marcescens strain was UV mutated and maximum SRP producing UV mutant SM3 was selected by its caseinolytic property. Methods: Batch production studies were carried out by varying carbon and nitrogen sources. The carbon sources used were maltose, starch, glucose and lactose. The nitrogen sources used were soya bean meal, tryptone, peptone and yeast extract. The initial pH of the medium containing maltose and tryptone was varied from 4 to 9. Purification of SRP was done by ammonium sulphate precipitation with various saturation conditions from 30% to 80%. Results: The production medium containing tryptone, with maltose as carbon source gave 36,415EU/mg at 68th hr. The production medium containing maltose as carbon source gave 32,575EU/mg at 68th hr. which is far greater than the maximum yield already reported The media with initial pH 7 gave an SRP production of 37,060EU/mg. At 40% saturation, the specific enzyme activity of the pellet obtained was found to be 63,623EU/mg. The dialysed sample gave specific enzyme activity of 1,90,451EU/mg. The characterization of the enzyme was done by SDS PAGE. Conclusion: From the results it is concluded that the production of serratiopeptidase enzyme is maximum from the UV mutated strain of Serratia marcescens.