Available online www.jocpr.com Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, 2014, 6(5):1153-1156 Research Article ISSN : 0975-7384 CODEN(USA) : JCPRC5 1153 Isolation and partial purification of lipase and protease from marine algae Shilpak Dilip Bele, Swapnil Suresh Patil, S. Sharmila and L. Jeyanthi Rebecca* Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Bharath University, Agharam Road, Selaiyur, Chennai _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Lipases are a group of enzymes widely used in different industries as they catalyse the hydrolysis of the triacylgylcerols into its simpler compounds. They catalyze the process of transesterification which helps in the production of bio-fuel. These enzymes have a wide range of industrial applications. Protease is an essential constituent of all forms of life on earth including fungi, plants, prokaryotes and animals. They have a wide range of applications in various fields. It is well known that proteases hydrolyze peptide bonds of proteins and they differ in their substrate specificity and ability to hydrolyze various peptide bonds. The present study was carried out to partially purify protease and lipase from various varieties of seaweeds like Enteromorpha intestinalis, Enteromorpha clathrata, Gracilaria edulis, Ulva lactuca collected from the coastal area of Covelong and Pulicat Lake, Chennai, Tamilnadu. The protein content was estimated using Bradford method. The results indicate that the enzyme activity differs from species to species. Keywords: Lipases, protease, seaweeds, transesterification, partial purification. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Lipase, a subclass of esterases is any of a group of fat-splitting enzymes found in the blood, gastric juices, pancreatic secretions, intestinal juices, and adipose tissues [1, 2]. Lipases possess the ability to hydrolyze fats in the digestive tract but also act as a biocatalyst in carrying out acylation and deacylation of many unnatural substrates. They have been isolated and characterized from a wide range of sources [1-6]. They have a wide range of industrial applications [7, 8]. Certain pancreatic lipase inhibitors have been identified from seaweeds [9]. Esterases which can hydrolyze triglycerides at the water/oil boundary are termed lipases or, more systematically, triacylglycerol hydrolases [EC 3.1.1.3]. Lipases are stable in the terms of reactivity and surrounding environment and are obtained from plants, animals and different microbial flora. Proteases are essential components of cells catalyzing processes ranging from photoacclimation and nutrient acquisition to development and stress responses. Alkaline proteases are of medical importance [10]. They have elastolytic and keratinolytic activity and hence can be used in leather-processing industries. Proteases find their use in the dehairing and in the processing of waste feathers [11, 12]. It has been used in the detergent industry and a bleach stable alkaline protease for detergent formulation from Bacillus sp is reported [13, 14, 15]. Thermostable alkaline protease is used to improve the processing capacity for the recovery of silver from used X-ray film [16, 17]. There are reports on the isolation of protease from plant leaves and marine waste like fish scales, crab and prawn shells [18-21]. The present study was carried out to isolate and purify protease and lipase from four species of marine algae. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Collection of sample: Samples were collected from two different places: Pulicat Lake and Covelong beach along the Bay of Bengal.