Screening and Characterization of Psychrotrophic, Lipolytic Bacteria from Deep-Sea Sediments

Of 23 psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from the west Pacific deep-sea sediments, 19 were assigned to the $\gamma$-Proteobacteria, 3 to the <$\beta$-Proteobacteria, and 1 to the Gram-positive bacteria, as determined by their 16S rDNA sequences. Ten psychrotrophs, affiliated to the Psychrobacter, Pseudoalteromonas, and Pseudomonas genera in the $\gamma$-Proteobacteria group, were screened for lipolytic bacteria. The majority of the lipolytic isolates had growth temperatures between 4-$30^\circ{C}$, and all of them were neutrophilic, aerobic, or facultatively anaerobic, and some were able to produce multiple kinds of ectohydrolytic enzymes. The deep-sea strains Psychrobacter sp. wp37 and Pseudoalteromonas sp. wp27 were chosen for further lipase production analysis. Both strains had the highest lipase production when grown at 10 to $20^\circ{C}$; their highest lipase production occurred at the late-exponential growth stage; and the majority of the enzymes were excreted to the outside of the cells. Lipases from both strains had the same optimal reaction temperature and pH (20-$30^\circ{C}$, pH 7-8) and could retain about 60% of their highest activity at $4^\circ{C}$. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE and an in-gel activity test showed that they had the same high molecular mass of about 85 kDa.