Isolation and screening of amylase producing Bacillus species from soil

Amylases are one of the most important industrial enzymes, which hydrolyze starch molecules to fine products such as dextrins, maltose etc. In recent years, interest in the microbial production of enzyme has increased dramatically due to its wide spread use in baking, food, textile, and detergent industry. Amylase production by bacteria esp. by Bacillus species is of great importance nowadays. The purpose of current investigation is to isolate amylase producing Bacillus species from soil. Soil samples were collected from different areas of Karachi, Pakistan. Samples were analyzed for bacteriological study. 89 different bacterial species were isolated from different soil samples. Morphological and biochemical identification revealed 39 Bacillus species. These species were screened for amylase production. Five species were selected as highest enzyme producers in starch hydrolysis test. Among the five, AS-2 was found to be the highest enzyme producing specie in enzyme assay. The enzyme activity was found to be 3179.62 IU/ml/min. Such specie could be used as the auspicious source of amylase in industry.