Partial characterization of lignin peroxidase expressed by bacterial and fungal isolates from termite gut

Abstract

Lignin peroxidase producing microorganisms were isolated from the gut of Macrotermes nigeriense (Soldier and worker termite). The microorganisms isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Epidermophyton flocussum, Microsporum distortum, Trichophyton megininii, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Aspergillus niger. When the isolates were incubated for 24 hours in the presence of 0.5 w/v pyrogallol to test for the expression of peroxidase activities, B. subtilis produced the highest activity among the bacterial isolates, with optimum temperature of 35 °C, and optimum pH of 6.5. Similar screen among the fungal isolates found M. distortum to express the most activities, with optimum temperature of 40 °C, and optimum pH of 5.0, after 72 hours incubation. The results from this study suggest that B. subtilis and M. distortum can be a cheap source of lignin peroxidase for large scale commercial production, biotechnological and industrial applications.