Cold‐active enzymes from cold‐adapted bacteria

Abstract

Abstract The properties of amylase, lipase and protease, excreted by newly isolated bacteria from snow‐covered soil, salmon intestine and crab intestine, have been investigated. One amylase, one lipase, and three proteases have been characterized by shifts in their apparent optimal activities toward low temperatures and by reductions in their activation energy values. The discovered enzymes were rapidly inactivated at temperatures above the optimum (30 to 40°C). These results suggest that the enzymes are cold‐active. The best cold‐active protease producer, isolated from salmon intestine, has been identified as Flavobacterium balustinum by the analysis of 16S rRNA. The optimal growth temperature of this bacterium was 20°C, but a higher amount of protease activity was present at 10°C.