Xylanase produced by Thermophilic Alkalophilic Bacteria - Isolation and Some Properties of Bacillus spp. -

Of the bacterial strains which were isolated from soils by incubating in the xylan-containing medium at pH 10.3 and , 5 strains were selected and their bacterial characteristics were examined. Their characteristics were almost consistent with those of the genus Bacillus. The optimal temperature of growth, specific growth rate and doubling time was in the range of -, and their growth was also good at . The optimal temperature of enzyme production was agreed with that of bacterial growth. The crude enzyme was stable at , but the enzyme activity was greatly lost by heating at for 10 minutes. The optimal pH rnage of growth and enzyme production was 9-10, and no growth was observed at pH 7.0, indicating that they were alkalophilic bacteria. The hydrolysis products from xylan by crude enzyme, analyzed by TLC, were xylose and xylobiose.