In the frame of a large study aimed at investigate the microbial population dynamics and functional role during composting a collection of microorganisms was obtained. The goal of this research was to search for extracellular enzymes production among actinobacteria obtained during the thermophilic and mesophilic phases of composting.
Actinoacteria isolation was performed by picking colonies from sodium caseinate agar plates. These isolates were identified by analyzing the sequences of their 16S rRNA genes. The isolated actinobacteria were tested for the expression of ligninase, cellulase, hemicellulase, amylase, protease, alkaline phosphatase and lipase activities.
A total of 604 isolates were obtained, a 30 % of them belonged to the Phylum Actinobacteria while the remaining mostly comprised members of the Phylum Firmicutes. Actinobacteria pertained to the Families Micrococcaceae, Dermabacteraceae, Brevibacteriaceae, Cellulomonadaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Microbacteriaceae and Streptomycetaceae. Five strains of the genera Arthrobacter, Brachybacterium, Brevibacterium and Cellulosimicrobiumwere selected because of their capability to produce protease and amylase along with alkaline phosphatase.
This study contributes to catalogue actinobacteria in composting ecosystem, and provides additional information to support future research about the biotechnological potential of these microorganisms.
This research has been funded by the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología” projects AGL2009-08405 and AGL2012-36434.