BIOPROCESSING OF AN ECO-FRIENDLY MICROBIAL ALGINATE AND IMMOBILIZATION OF AN ANTICANCER ENZYME L-GLUTAMINASE

摘要

Seaweeds are the commercial source for the production of alginate, which is having a variety of applications. More precisely, they are used as viscosity enhancers in food preparations and also in the field of biotechnology as a good immobilizing substance for enzymes and proteins. The extraction of alginate causes considerable damage to ecology. The fish and marine life are interwoven to it in their habitat. Seaweeds are the bottom dweller of the food chain and they detoxify heavy metals such as cadmium and lead which will be a health concern if the products are manufactured out of it. Here we had isolated a soil dwelling microorganism found to be of Azotobacter sp., which was potential enough to produce alginate. The parameters for the microbial production were optimized and the yield was significant after optimization. Temperature, pH, aeration and agitation of the fermentation medium were studied and optimized. The viscosity of the produced alginate was quiet appealing at all stages of the production. The strain yielded a maximum of 6.47mg/mL of alginate. Microbial L- Glutaminase, an anticancer enzyme was selected for immobilization. The alginate produced was of good quality and the enzyme activity was steady for about 72 hours. The kinetics ofthe enzyme was studied using non-linear regression equation. Michaelis Menten and lineweaver-burks plot were made. The enzyme Km and Vmax were found to be 459.2 mM and 1.383 mM/min respectively. The enzyme was found to have a high affinity towards its substrate.