| Title |
Diversity of Cold-Active Protease-Producing Bacteria from Arctic Terrestrial and Marine Environments Revealed by Enrichment Culture |
| Author |
Eun Hye Kim1,2, Kyeung Hee Cho1, Yung Mi Lee1, Joung Han Yim1, Hong Kum Lee1, Jang-Cheon Cho2, and Soon Gyu Hong1* |
| Address |
1Polar BioCenter, Korea Polar Research Institute, KORDI, Songdo Techno Park, Incheon 406-840, Republic of Korea, 2Division of Biology and Ocean Sciences, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 48(4),426-432, 2010,
|
| DOI |
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| Key Words |
Arctic, enrichment, protease |
| Abstract |
A new approach for enrichment culture was applied to obtain cold-active protease-producing bacteria for marine and terrestrial samples from Svalbard, Norway. The method was developed for the enrichment of bacteria by long-term incubation at low temperatures in semi-solid agar medium containing meat pieces as the main source of carbon and energy. ZoBell and 0.1× nutrient broth were added for marine and terrestrial microorganisms, respectively, to supply basal elements for growth. One to three types of colonies were observed from each enrichment culture, indicating that specific bacterial species were enriched during the experimental conditions. Among 89 bacterial isolates, protease activity was observed from 48 isolates in the screening media containing skim milk. Good growth was observed at 4°C and 10°C while none of the isolates could grow at 37°C. At low temperatures, enzyme activity was equal to or higher than activity at higher temperatures. Bacterial isolates were included in the genera Pseudoalteromonas (33 isolates), Arthrobacter (24 isolates), Pseudomonas (16 isolates), Psychrobacter (6 isolates), Sphingobacterium (6 isolates), Flavobacterium (2 isolates), Sporosarcina (1 isolate), and Stenotrophomonas (1 isolate). Protease activity was observed from Pseudoalteromonas (33 isolates), Pseudomonas (10 isolates), Arthrobacter (4 isolates), and Flavobacterium (1 isolate). |
