A metagenomic alkaline protease from saline habitat: Cloning, over-expression and functional attributes

Metagenomics has opened new horizon to unlock the biotechnological potential for novel enzymes. An alkaline protease gene was obtained from the total environmental DNA extracted from a saline habitat. After cloning and sequencing, it was identified that the protease gene related to uncultivable bacteria (HM219181). The protease was over expressed at 6 h of induction with optimum induction at 1 mM IPTG and 27 °C. The purified enzyme was characterized with respect to various factors; temperature, pH, NaCl and chemical denaturant. The sequence analysis indicated a hydrophobic tendency of the protein, while the predicted 3D structure indicated the enzyme as a serine protease.