Production de protéase par Aspergillus terreus endophyte des algues marines

Abstract

The marine environment constitutes a rich and little explored source of microorganisms capable of producing metabolites with particular properties. Marine endophytic fungi, in particular, develop adapted enzyme systems allowing them to survive in extreme ecological conditions. Among these enzymes, proteases are of growing interest due to their numerous applications in the pharmaceutical, food processing, textile and detergent industries ... .etc. An isolate of Aspergillus terreus, isolated as an endophyte from green marine algae Enteromorpha flexuosa collected on the beach of Salamander (Mostaganem), was selected for its excellent proteolytic activity. After screening by purification, macro-microscopic identification and screening on skim milk agar, this isolate was chosen as the isolate that showed the highest protease activity. This species was then cultivated in liquid fermentation in a production medium to promote extracellular secretion of protease. The crude enzyme was recovered after 72 hours of incubation under agitation, by filtration then centrifugation. The proteolytic activity was quantified using a specific enzymatic assay, making it possible to evaluate the production potential of an alkaline protease by selected A.terreus. The results also reveal a proteolytic activity of 39.54 units per milliliter. This work highlights the biotechnological interest of marine endophyte Aspergillus terreus as a promising source of proteases with high industrial potential.