Screening of lipases from mangrove sediments by metagenomic and cultivation

Abstract

Mangroves are costal ecosystems where extreme environmental conditions are found, being considered valuable source for the discovery of novel microbial enzymes. Lipases constitute the most important group of biocatalysts being used in various biotechnological applications. In this context, the current work aimed to screening bacterial isolates and metagenomic clones from mangrove sediments for lipase/esterase production. A total of 90 isolates and 1152 clones were tested in LB agar supplemented with 1% tributyrin. A number of 58 isolates and 3 clones were lipase positives, being the clones considered potential for novel lipases. The isolates were identified by 16S rRNA partial sequences as belonging to the genera Lysobacter, Shewanella, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Variovorax, Stappia, Rhodobacter, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Luteimonas. These results are very encouraging and the next steps involve further study for enzymes characterization.