Isolation and characterization of a thermophilic Bacillus sp. with protease activity isolated from hot spring of Tarabalo, Odisha, India

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Thermophilic bacteria are less studied but important group of microorganisms due to their ability to produce industrial enzymes. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, thermophilic bacteria were isolated from hot spring of Tarabalo, India. A bacterium that could tolerate high temperatures was characterized by morphology, biochemistry and sequencing of its 16S rRNA gene. The isolate was screened for protease and amylase activity. Phylogenetic affiliations and G+C content of the isolate was studied. RESULTS The bacterium with the ability to tolerate high temperatures was identified as Bacillus sp. both by morphology, biochemistry and sequencing of its 16S rRNA gene. BLAST search analysis of the sequence showed maximum identity with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (99% similarity). Strain exhibited considerable protease activity. Phylogenetic analysis of the isolate revealed close affiliation with thermophilic Bacillus species. The G+C content was found to be 54.7%. CONCLUSION The study confirmed that the isolated Bacillus sp. to be a true thermophile and could be a source of thermostable protease which can be exploited for pharmaceutical and industrials applications.