Two-step purification and partial characterization of an extra cellular α-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis

The aim of this study was production and partial purification of α-amylase enzyme by Bacillus licheniformis. B. Licheniformis was allowed to grow in broth culture for purpose of inducing α-amylase enzyme. Optimal conditions for amylase production by B. Licheniformis are incubation period of 120 h, temperature of 37 °C and pH 7.0. The α-amylase enzyme was purified by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-sepharose CL-6B and sephadex G-100 gel filtration with a 19.1-fold increase in specific activity as compared to the concentrated supernatant and with a specific activity of 926.47 U/mg. The α-amylase had the highest activity at pH 7.0 and 65 °C. According to the data on native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the molecular weight of the purified enzyme was 72 kDa.