Screening for lipase activity from md 029a bacteria isolated from coral mucus

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.