Production, Purification and Optimization of Protease by Fusarium solani under Solid State Fermentation and Isolation of Protease Inhibitor Protein from Rumex vesicarius L

Alkaline protease enzyme was produced under solid state fermentation by Fusarium solani. Various agro-wastes were evaluated to check their potential utilization in the solid state fermentation for protease production. In this connection, the results showed that rice straw was the best agro-waste. The best enzyme activity was achieved at 7th day of incubation, pH 8, temperature 45 degrees C, inoculum's size 200 mu l/100 ml, agitation speed at 140 rpm, and KNO3 as nitrogen source. The molecular weight of the obtained purified enzyme is 30 KDa. A protease inhibitor protein was isolated and purified from Rumex vesicarius L. The molecular weight of the inhibitor protein is 46 KDa and it composes of 17 amino acids. The minimum inhibitory concentration was found at 20 mu l of the inhibitor per 40 mu l of the enzyme. The obtained results showed that the inhibitor can withstand the heat at 70 degrees C for 30 min, and pH (5-9) for 72 h at 4 degrees C without loss of activity but it cannot be activated at low acidity less than pH 5 and very high temperature more than 70 degrees C. This study will serve to increase the understanding of factors that control the production and inhibition of protease enzyme which may help in many industrial aspects.