Abstract

Bacterial amylase is being employed in numerous industries to hydrolyze the glycosidic bonds in starch and similar polysaccharide molecules. Although amylase-producing bacteria have already been isolated from a variety of different sources, a fecal sample from spotted deer (Axis axis) is unexplored. The present study was aimed at identifying and characterizing potential mesophilic amylase-producing bacteria. The spreading of a fecal sample on starch agar plates resulted in the screening of four bacterial isolates based on colony morphological differences. Out of these isolates, AD2 and AD4 showed a high zone of hydrolysis on starch agar plates. Bacterial isolates AD2 and AD4 were identified as Enterobacter cloacae FZAD (OR361741) and Aeromonas veronii FZD (OR226595), respectively, based on the biochemical and molecular characterization. AD2 showed maximum amylase production under optimum culture conditions of pH 6.0 and 45°C after 48 h of incubation, and for AD4, optimum conditions were pH 7.0, 40°C, and 60 h of incubation. The enzymes were characterized, and a maximum amylase activity of 14.13 U/mL for AD2 and 14.92 U/mL for AD4 was observed. The good amylase activity of these bacterial strains can be used in a number of industrial processes such as textiles, paper industries, brewing, and spot removers in dry cleaning.

Key words: Amylase enzyme, Enterobacter cloacae, Aeromonas veronii, Fecal sample, Deer