ISOLATION, SCREENING, AND IDENTIFICATION OF PECTINASE PRODUCING BACTERIA FROM SOIL

Pectinases are enzymes that break down pectin and they are employed in biotechnological applications. Soil acts as a habitat for diverse groups of microorganisms. The study aimed to isolate and screen for pectinase-producing bacteria from soil. The soil sample was collected from agricultural farmland, at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti (7.71280” N, 5.24623” E). Isolation was done using serial dilution and pour plate technique using pectinase screening agar plates (PSAM). In addition, the qualitative screening was done on PSAM agar plates while those that were positive were further subjected to quantitative screening. Six bacterial strains were positive for pectinolytic activity when screened on PSAM agar plates. This was displayed with zones of hydrolysis shown on PSAM plates ranging from 12 to 16.7 mm. The isolates with the highest zone of hydrolysis were PSE 4 and PSE 5 (16.7 mm). The quantitative screening revealed that isolate PSE 12 showed the highest pectinase-specific activity (6.12 mol/min/mL) after 18 h of incubation. The morphological and biochemical characterization revealed isolates PSE4, 5, 6, 9, 12, and 14 as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. These findings suggest that the bacterial isolates obtained in this study have the potential to meet the ever-increasing demand for pectinases in industrial processes.