Research Article Protease from jute endophyte Micrococcus luteus MBL-Bac7 functions as a potential bating agent for the leather industry Md. Enayet Ullah, Farhana Tasnim Chowdhury, Sharaf Aroni, Al Amin, Maqsud Hossain 1 , Haseena Khan and Mohammad Riazul Islam * Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History Received: 17 April 2022 Revised: 29 May 2022 Accepted: 12 June 2022 Keywords: Jute endophytes, Micrococcus luteus MBL-Bac7, protease, bating agent. Ever since the discovery of jute endophytes, testing their potential for commercial uses has been a matter of interest. Considering the same, jute endophyte Micrococcus luteus MBL-Bac7, capable of producing extracellular proteases, was selected for in vitro and in silico analysis to assess its role as a bating agent required in rawhide processing. The presence of extracellular protease was confirmed from the plate assay. As the enzyme is tested for commercial use, the effect of various metal ions and reaction conditions (pH, temperature) have been optimized. The protease activity appears to be retained even at 85°C. It also showed significant activity in a wide range of pH (pH 3.0-8.5). Metal ion Mn 2+ increased the protease activity significantly, but Fe 2+ , Zn 2+, and Co 2+ ions showed the opposite effect. Molecular identification of the protease was done from the whole genome sequence data. Using PSORTb v.3.0.2, SecretomeP-1.0, TMHMM-2.0, and protein molecular weight software, the physicochemical properties of the protease were predicted. The isolated protease shared a strong evolutionary link with Micrococcus species' S8 family serine peptidase. Finally, in the bating of cowhide, effects similar to that of commercial agents were obtained during finger prick, lastometer, and tensile tests. The findings of this study corroborate the possibility of using this protease as a potential bating agent. However, further studies are necessary to reduce the production cost for higher yield and commercialization. Introduction Endophytic bacteria are omnipresent in plants, residing either latently or actively colonising plant tissues both systematically and locally, without having any harmful effect on the plant. Reports say plants may harbour both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. However, many Gram-positive bacteria have biological control activities, such as Bacillus, Brevibacteria, and Micrococcus species are found inhabiting plants (Kobayashi and Palumbo, 2000). The jute (Corchorus olitorius) plant is home to a large number of endophytes, including both bacteria and fungi. Various biochemical and physiological tests suggest that these microbes may provide their host a wide range of benefits (Najnin et al., 2015). Among the significant benefits of endophytic bacteria, observed up to now, are growth stimulation in soya beans (Kuklinsky-Sobral et al., 2004), increasing nitrogen fixation in sugarcane (Boddey et al., 2003), assisting plants in obtaining nutrients, enhancing systemic resistance to pathogens and growth DOI: 10.3329/jbas.v46i1.60345 J. Bangladesh Acad. Sci. 46(1); 31-43: June 2022 * Corresponding author: <mriazulislam@du.ac.bd> 1 Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Health and Life Sciences, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Journal homepage: http://www.bas.org.bd/publications/jbas.html