Production of amylase enzyme from mangrove fungal isolates

Abstract

The mangrove ecosystem serves as a bioresource for various industrially important microorganisms. The use of fungi as a source of industrially relevant enzymes led to an increased interest in the application of microbial enzymes in various industrial processes. Fungal colonies were isolated from sediments of five different mangrove ecosystems of Odisha such as Bhitarakanika, Dhamra, Mahanadi, Devi and Budhabalanga areas. Forty (40) fungal colonies were isolated and screened for amylase activity out of which five strains were found to be more active. Among the isolates IFamy value was maximum; that is, 5.2 for MSF-9. The amylase enzyme activity of MSF-9 was maximum at pH-5.0, 1% NaCl, 1% substrate and Inositol as carbon source. The most potent fungi was identified through morphological, microscopical and 18S rDNA sequence methods and identified as Penicillium citrinum -JQ249898. This strain can be better utilized in large scale industries for enzyme production. Hence further study is suggested on enzyme purification for various value-added product formation. Keywords: Mangrove, fungi, I Famy , Penicillium citrinum , microscopical study. African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(46) 4338-4346