Activity of bacterial phosphomonoesterases in batch culture.

The phosphomonoesterases catalyse the hydrolysis of primary esters of phosphoric acid which help the bacteria to survive in phosphate stressed environment. Ninety-five bacterial isolates were obtained from domestic sewage and industrial effluents of gelatine and soap factories at Jabalpur on a medium enriched with phosphate and were screened for phosphatase production. The phosphatase producers were tentatively identified as Escherichia coli, Vibrio vulnificus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas maltophilia and Micrococcus varians. The in vitro studies on the production of phosphomonoesterases by bacteria was conducted. The maximum alkaline phosphatase production was recorded on 8th day of incubation by E.coli and P.maltophilia, on 10th day of incubation by V.vulnificus while M.varians and P.maltophilia produced higher acid phosphatase on 4th and 10th day of incubation respectively. The detailed investigations were done to find out the effect of various physical and chemical factors on phosphomonoesterases activity and the optimum conditions required for enzyme activity.