Abstract:
The information on the marine bacteria producing lipase enzyme is quite limited. Lipases
are hydrolases acting on the carboxyl ester bonds present in acylglycerols to liberate fatty
acids and glycerols. In this study, the ability of the isolated marine bacteria to produce
this enzyme was investigated. MD 029a marine bacteria, which was isolated from coral
mucus at Pulau Bidong, Terengganu was chosen to induce this enzyme. The
identification of the bacteria was confirmed using several biochemical tests based on the
morphological and phenotypic characteristics. The results suggested that the bacteria is
Serratia sp. Prior to the induction of lipase by the bacteria, the best culture medium
among three different media was determined and the preparation of pre-inoculurn has
been carried out. ZoBell's modified media was found to be the best culture medium. With
olive oil as substrate, three reaction parameters- incubation time, temperature and amount
of substrate- were studied to obtain the optimum conditions for induction of lipase. The
assays were done using 56.25 µg of crude enzyme as it is the suitable amount of enzyme
to optimize the amount of fatty acids released.