Abstract

Marine actinobacteria isolated from Bay of Bengal and evaluated for the l-asparaginase production capability. A total of 75 actinobacterial strains were isolated and screened for antibacterial activity. Among them, 10 actinobacterial strains showed significant antibacterial activity. Those strains were identified based on phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics and screened for l-asparaginase production. During screening process, Streptomyces sp. (SS7) showed large pink colored zone (10 mm) around the colony. The strain was further studied for production and characterization of l-asparaginase enzyme. The preferable culture conditions for l-asparaginase were pH 8.5, temperature 40°C, maltose (22 IU) and soya bean meal (25.7 IU) as best carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Different substrates were used to optimize the l-asparaginase production. Among them, mangrove leaf extract-I showed maximum yield of 14.5 IU, the enzyme showed 18 fold during sephadex G-100 column purification. These results show that the great potential of Streptomyces sp. (SS7) for the production of l-asparaginase from cheaper source could lead to economic feasibility. The l-asparaginase from Streptomyces sp. (SS7) may be a new active source for natural anticancer agent with potential significance for therapeutic applications.

Key words: Bay of Bengal, marine actinobacteria, asparaginase.