Optimization of the growth conditions for amylase production by bacillus licheniformis 208 isolated from local hotsprings of karach

Studies on the optimum conditions for the production of extracellular amylase were carried out with a newly isolated strain of bacillus 208 from the hotsprings in karachi. the optimum temperature,initial medium ph and incubation period for amylase production were 50°c,7.0 and 24 hrs respectively. furthermore,cells when grown in the complex media showed high amylase production compared to the minimal medium. effect of different carbon sources revealed that soluble starch (1%) increased the amylase yield significantly. peptone (as nitrogen source) gave higher yield as compared to other nitrogen sources tested. under optimized conditions,the organism entered the stationary phase after 12 hrs and amylase production was observed to be maximum at 24th hrs of cultivation. enzyme production regulation is influenced by catabolite repression. reduction in enzyme production was observed in the presence of edta while addition of tween 20 and cacl2 helped to enhance the enzyme production.