PURIFICATION OF A PROTEASE FROM AN ALKALOPHlLIC BACILLUS SUBTILIS CHZ1 ISOLATED FROM A ZIMBABWEAN HOT SPRING

A proteolytic enzyme produced by Bacillus subtilis CHZ1 was purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration and cationic exchange on S‐Sepharose fast flow column chromatography. Production of the protease was higher when the Bacillus strain was cultured in a synthetic medium, M162, supplemented with 0.3% (w/v) organic compared to inorganic nitrogen sources. Enzyme production was growth dependent and production was highest when tryptone was used as the nitrogen source. When run on SDS‐PAGE gel, the purified enzyme gave a 35 kDa band, suggesting that it consisted of one polypeptide chain. High enzyme activity was observed in the pH range of 6–10 with a maximum value at pH 8.0 when 0.5% (w/v) azocasein was used as the substrate. Optimum temperature for protease activity was found to be 60–80C, and the enzyme had considerable thermal stability for 5.5 h retaining about 90% activity after 5.5 h. At 2.5 mM concentration, PMSF, Ag⁺ and Hg⁺ inhibited activity of the protease. Metal cofactors like Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ increased the enzyme activity by about 20%. Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Ca²⁺ did not affect the enzyme's activity. The pH and thermal stability as well as high specific activity of this enzyme can be exploited for industrial applications.