Abstract
Background: Proteases are proteolytic enzymes having a wide range of applications in various industries such as the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, medicine, leather and textile. Microorganisms are considered potentially to be the most suitable sources of proteases. Prior to industrial applications of proteases, it is important to investigate physical parameters affecting their enzyme activities. Methods: The microorganisms isolated from different waste dumpsites were screened for proteolytic activity using casein as a substrate. The optimum temperature and pH and kinetic parameters such as Km, Vmax, specific activities and Kcat of the proteases produced were determined to ascertain their industrial prospects. Results: The results obtained showed that A. niger, A. flavus, Penicillium sp, Muccor and Fusarium sp. are the active protease producing fungal isolates while B. subtilis and B. megaterium are the active protease producing bacterial isolates obtained from waste dumpsites. The optimum temperature and pH values of the proteases produced from these isolates were recorded within a close range of 50-60 oC and 8-9 respectively. The protease produced from Penicillium sp isolated from sewage sludge was observed to have maximum Vmax (222.2U/ml) while protease produced from B. subtilis isolated from domestic waste dumpsite was recorded to have the minimum Km value (0.244mg/ml). The protease produced from B. megaterium isolated from the abattoir site was observed to have the highest specific activity (659.02U/mg) while the protease produced from B. subtilis isolated from refuse dumpsite was observed to have a maximum Kcat value (26.42 s-1). Conclusion: These results show that proteases produced by the isolates obtained from; abattoir sites, refuse waste dumpsite, sewage sludge, domestic waste dumpsites, possess remarkable kinetic parameters that are crucial for their industrial applications
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