RESUMEN
Proteases have prospective financial and environment-friendly applications; hence attention is focused currently on the finding of new protease producing microorganism so as to meet the requirements of industry. A thermophilic bacterial strain producing extracellular protease activity was isolated from soil and identified as Bacillus cereus by analysis of 16S rRNA. Protease production by the microorganism was improved by studying the impact of the type of nitrogen and carbon source, fermentation period, growth temperature and initial pH of the culture medium in cultivation optimization experiments. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity in two step procedure involving Sephadex G-75 and Q-Sepharose chromatography. The molecular weight of purified enzyme was found to be 58 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Protease exhibited a pH and temperature optima of 7.5 and 60°, respectively. The enzyme was active in the pH range of 6.0-9.0 and stable up to 70°C. Histological analysis of protease treated goat and cow skin pelts showed complete removal of non leather forming structures such as hair shaft, hair follicles and glandular structures. The protease showed the stain removing property from blood stained cotton cloth and found to be compatible with six commercially available detergents. The protease could release peptides from natural proteins after digestion of coagulated egg albumin and blood clot.