Screening of Environmental DNA Libraries for the Presence of Genes Conferring Lipolytic Activity on <i>Escherichia coli</i>

Abstract

Environmental DNA libraries prepared from three different soil samples were screened for genes conferring lipolytic activity on Escherichia coli clones. Screening on triolein agar revealed 1 positive clone out of 730,000 clones, and screening on tributyrin agar revealed 3 positive clones out of 286,000 E. coli clones. Substrate specificity analysis revealed that one recombinant strain harbored a lipase and the other three contained esterases. The genes responsible for the lipolytic activity were identified and characterized.