Amylase Production from Bacillus Licheniformis LWEC3 Isolated from Marine Ascidians (Phylum: Chordata) In Tuticorin, Southeast Coast of India

Ascidians are significant biofouling organisms in the marine environment with potential for bioprospecting novel bioactive compounds. Marine invertebrates, particularly ascidians, have close associations with diverse populations of microorganisms that produce various secondary metabolites. In this context, the present study focused on the bioprospecting potential of three ascidians—Polyclinum glabrum, Eudistoma viridae, and Microcosmus exasperatus collected from the Tuticorin, Southeast Coast of Tamil Nadu for the isolation of associated bacteria and the evaluation of their amylase enzyme production activity. Initially, ascidians were identified through morphological and conventional methods. Further, the study involved screening and isolating bacteria associated with the ascidians to assess their amylase production activity. The most prospecting bacterial strain Bacillus licheniformis LWEC3 was selected from the 29 isolates, obtained from P. glabrum (34.4%) which showed considerable amount of amylase production. The viable strain B. licheniformis LWEC3 was optimized for amylase production and the overall purification fold of the amylase was 8.83, with a precise activity of 1024.37 Umg-1 and a yield of 9.76 % obtained through the Sephadex gel method. The purified amylase content was confirmed by SDS Page, revealing a molecular weight of 20 kDa.