ISOLATION, SCREENING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF L-ARGINASE PRODUCING SOIL BACTERIA

摘要

L-arginase (EC 3.5.3.1) is a therapeutic enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-arginine to L-ornithine and urea. L-arginase is of keen interest due to its significance as an anti-cancer mediator against auxotrophic cancers. This enzyme is widely distributed and expressed in organisms like fungi, plants, non-chordates, and chordates, however very scarce report is available for L-arginase from bacteria. Therefore, the present study was aimed to isolate L-arginase producing bacteria from soil. Soil samples were collected from different locations in and around Karnatak University campus, Dharwad, Karnataka, India. L-arginase activity was confirmed by rapid plate assay screening using minimal arginine agar media and estimating the urea level colorimetrically. Among the sixty-eight isolates, twenty-nine of them were positive for the L-arginase production, but, the most potent isolate was selected, characterized, and identified in our study. The isolate was identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain PV1 (GenBank accession number MK459549.1).