[Phospholipase of Bacillus cereus]

Abstract

Phospholipase activity of 10 strains of Bacillus cereus was studied. The most active strain of Bac. cereus--phospholipase producer was selected. A cultivation mixture of Bac. cereus optimal for the phospholipase synthesis was found to include peptone, yeast extract, glucose, NaCl and Na2HPO4. Proper conditions for the synthesis of phospholipase in flasks, 20 l and 250 l fermenters were tested. The maximum increase of the phospholipase activity occurred by the 5-9th hour of microbial growth at pH 6.0-8.0. Further cultivation, foaming, strong aeration, pH increase (over 8.0) reduced the accumulated activity. By fractionation with (NH4)2SO4, ethanol precipitation, protamine sulphate treatment with subsequent Sephadex G-100 gel filtration phospholipase (EC 3.1.4.3) was purified 300-fold from the culture liquid of Bac. cereus str. 504. The preparation was examined electrophoretically in 7% polyacrylamide gel at alkaline pH. The effect of metal salts and EDTA on phospholipase activity was studied. Thermostability, substrate specificity and pH optimum of purified phospholipase were investigated.