Polygalacturonase secreted by yeasts from Brazilian semi-arid environments.

摘要

Microbial pectinolytic enzymes are known to play a commercially important role in a number of industrial processes. The objective of this study was to investigate the extracellular polygalacturonases of yeasts isolated from Brazilian semi-arid environments. Among the 250 colonies tested, only 33 produced extracellular polygalacturonases: Aureobasidium pullulans (18 isolates), Candida boidinii (1 isolate), Trichosporonoides sp. (3 isolates), Kluyveromyces marxianus (1 isolate), Cryptococcus liquefaciens (1 isolate), Pseudozyma sp. (4 isolates), and yeast-like related to fungal endophytes (5 isolates). The highest polygalacturonase activity was observed in Pseudozyma sp. CCMB 300 (14.17 +or- 0.08 mumol galacturonic acid released/min/mg protein). This study shows the potential of yeasts and yeast-like organisms isolated from Brazilian semi-arid environments to produce pectinolytic enzymes.