Isolation, production, purification and characterization of an organic-solvent-thermostable alkalophilic cellulase from Bacillus vallismortis RG-07

Background: The rising concerns about the scarcity of fossil fuels, the emission of green house gasses and air pollution by incomplete combustion of fossil fuel have also resulted in an increasing focus on the use of cellulases to perform enzymatic hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic materials for the generation of bioethanol. The aim of this study was to isolate a potential thermo-solvent tolerant cellulase producing bacterium from natural resources, and then applied for purification and characterization. The purified enzyme was to be accessible for the bioethanol production as well as industrial exploitation (discuss in our next study). Results: It is the first instance when thermo-solvent tolerant cellulase producing bacterium was isolated from soil sample. The culture was identified as Bacillus vallismortis RG-07 by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Bacillus vallismortis RG-07 reported maximum cellulase production from sugarcane baggase (4105 U ml(-1)) used as agro-waste carbon source. The cellulase enzyme produced by the Bacillus sp. was purified by (NH4)(2)SO4 precipitation, ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography, with overall recovery of 28.8%. The molecular weight of purified cellulase was 80 kDa as revealed by SDS-PAGE and activity gel analysis. The optimum temperature and pH for enzyme activity was determined as 65 degrees C and 7.0 and it retained 95 and 75% of activity even at 95 degrees C, and 9.0 respectively. The enzyme activity was enhanced in the presence of organic solvents (30%) n-dodecane, iso-octane, n-decane, xylene, toluene, n-haxane, n-butanol, and cyclohexane, after prolonged incubation (7 days). The enzyme activity was also stimulated by Ca2+, mercaptoethanol, Tween-60, and Sodium hypochloride whereas strongly inhibited by Hg. Kinetic analysis of purified enzyme showed the Km and V-max to be 1.923 mg ml(-1) and 769.230 mu g ml(-1) min(-1), respectively. Conclusion: The unique property of solvent-thermostable-alkalophilic, nature proves the potential candidature of this isolate for current mainstream biomass conversion into fuel and other industrial process.