SCREENING FOR LIPASE PRODUCING BACTERIA FROM ABATTOIR SOIL

Industrial applications of lipase enzymes make them one of the most important enzymes in the biomanufacturing sector. Microorganisms contribute a huge percent of lipases in use today and the search for microorganisms from various habitat for lipase production is continuous. In this study, spread plate method on nutrient agar was used to isolate bacteria from abattoir soil collected from Kwatta Road in Awka, Anambra State. Five (5) Bacterial isolates were processed and screened for their ability to produce lipase using chromogenic plates that were supplemented with olive oil and phenol red as an indicator. Change in colour and zone clearance by isolates were the two (2) factors that were used to determine the results of lipase assay. It was observed that three (3) bacterial isolates showed positive lipase activity at the end of 24h incubation. The colour of the assay-plates were observed to change from yellow to pink and then to fuchsia pink after 48h incubation indicating high lipolytic activity. Morphological and biochemical characterization of the three (3) isolates revealed that they are members of Bacillus species. This shows that abattoir soil could be a potential source for bacterial lipase enzymes.