SCREENING AND ISOLATION OF POLYGALACTURONASE (PGase) PRODUCING MICROORGANISMS BY USING AGRO-RESIDUES AS A SUBSTRATE

Abstract

Almost all the commercial preparations of polygalacturonase are produced from fungal sources. Only few reports are available for the cost effective production of polygalacturonase from bacteria. Therefore in the present study, a number of bacterial strains were isolated from soil sample and screened for polygalacturonase production by using agro-residues. KP10B producing maximum polygalacturonase activity (103.35±6.65 U/ml) was identified as Bacillus subtilis. Among all tested agro-residues, the maximum enzyme production (147.46±8.29 U/ml) was obtained by using wheat bran as a carbon source.