Isolation, Identification and Molecular Characterization of Tannase Producing Klebsiella sp., from the Rumen of Migratory Goats and Sheep

Tannase, so called Tannin Acyl Hydrolase (TAH) (E.C.3.1.1.20) is one of the versatile biocatalyst with several industrial applications. It is solely responsible for the degradation of hydrolysable tannin thus surpassing the untoward effects of high concentration of tannin consumption in the gut of small ruminants. In the locality of Palampur the migratory goats and sheep have the unique property to resist excess amount of tannin consumed by them. This is because of their ruminal microflora. The concept of ruminal microflora can be used as Direct Fed Microbial (DFM) gaining momentum now-a-days. Thus in the present study attempts were made to explore new source of tannase producing microbes from the rumen of goats and sheep. Rumen samples were collected over several places of Palampur, then processed and finally the most tannin tolerable cultures were selected. Their genomic DNA were isolated and subjected for 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the isolates. From the molecular characterization we identified Klebsiella sp. as a novel source of tannase from the rumen of these migratory animals. This is the first report of a Klebsiella sp. from the rumen of migratory small ruminants capable of degrading forage tannin.