STUDY ON A NOVEL ACTINOMYCETE, STREPTOMYCES GANCIDICUS (MF464014) AND ENHANCING ITS TANNASE PRODUCING ABILITY BY OPTIMIZING GROWTH CONDITIONS IN SUBMERGED FERMENTATION

Tannase (Tannin acylhydrolase E. C. 3.1.1.20) is a ubiquitous enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of ester and depside bonds of hydrolyzable tannins, releasing glucose and gallic acid. Gallic acid is used in the food industry as a substrate for the chemical synthesis of food preservatives such as gallates and pyrogallol, propyl gallate being a very important food antioxidant and in the pharmaceutical industry, for the synthesis of antibacterial drugs. Tannase is also utilized for bioremediation of effluents from tanneries. A number of bacteria and fungus has been reported to produce tannase, but tannase-producing actinomycetes have not been reported. So, the present study was undertaken to isolate actinomycetes with the ability to produce tannase enzyme. A total of 30 microorganisms was isolated by enrichment culture technique using tannin as carbon source. The tannase producing strain AT 9 was selected based on the zone of tannic acid hydrolysis. AT 9 was identified as Streptomyces gancidicus based on 16s rRNA. Streptomyces gancidicus showed maximum tannase production when cultured in mineral medium using 4 plugs of culture were used as inoculum size, 2% tannic acid as carbon source and ammonium chloride (0.6%)as nitrogen source. The optimum temperature and pH required for maximum enzyme production was 30 ºC and 6.5 pH, respectively.Ca⁺² plays a significant role in tannase production by Streptomyces gancidicus.