Isolation and Identification of Pectinolytic Bacteria from Soil Samples of Akola Region, India

Abstract

Pectin is a major component of primary cell wall of all plants and encompasses a range of galacturonic rich polysaccharides. Pectinase hydrolyses pectic substance, they have a share of 25% in the global sales of food enzymes. The present work has been undertaken for the screening and isolation of pectinase producing bacteria from soil samples collected from farms of various regions of Akola. Total 70 bacterial strains were isolated from 12 soil samples. Preliminary screening of pectinase producing bacterial strains was done by spot inoculation on Vincent s agar medium containing pectin. Out of 70 isolates, 36 were found to be positive for pectinolytic activity giving clear zones ranging from 7-35 mm. The pectinase producing isolates were subjected for further identification by Standard Conventional methods. The isolates were found to be Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas spp and Staphylococcus aureus. In further study, 4 most prominent pectinase producing isolates were identified as Bacillus firmus (P1), Bacillus coagulans (P13), Bacillus endophyticus (P57) and Bacillus vietnamensis (P58) In the present study, an attempt was made to isolate efficient pectinase producing bacteria from the diverse region of Akola.