Abstract
Although axenic microbial cultures form the basis of many large successful industrial biotechnologies, the production of single commercial microbial strains for use in large environmental biotechnologies such as wastewater treatment has proved less successful. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of the co-culture of two halophilic bacteria, Marinirhabdus sp. and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus for enhanced protease activity. The co-culture was significantly more productive than monoculture (1.6–2.0 times more growth), with Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus being predominant (64%). In terms of protease activity, enhanced total activity (1.8–2.4 times) was observed in the co-culture. Importantly, protease activity in the co-culture was found to remain active over a much broader range of environmental conditions (temperature 25 °C to 60 °C, pH 4–12, and 10–30% salinity, respectively). This study confirms that the co-culturing of halophilic bacteria represents an economical approach as it resulted in both increased biomass and protease production, the latter which showed activity over arange of environmental conditions.
Highlights
In biotechnology, there have been numerous, spectacular examples where axenic microbial cultures and their enzymes have developed into a multi-billion dollar industry [1].For example amylases from Bacillus subtilis, glucosidases from Aspergillus flavus, proteases from Aspergillus niger, and lactases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae [2,3,4]
Monocultures and mixed cultures of the two bacteria were inoculated into the marine broth and incubated at 37 ◦ C with agitation
The present study showed the specific combination of Marinirhabdus sp. and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus may be important, as bacteria in mixed culture promote synergistic growth
Summary
For example amylases from Bacillus subtilis, glucosidases from Aspergillus flavus, proteases from Aspergillus niger, and lactases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae [2,3,4]. These enzymes are used in various industries (e.g., food, pharmaceutical, textile, paper, leather, and energy) [5]. In these examples, the use of a single microbial strain for enzyme production is successful on the basis that: The substrate used is defined and constant.
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