Isolation and Screening of Microorganisms Capable of Producing Protease Enzymes from Soil

Abstract

This research investigated the selection and screening of microorganisms that produce protease. Twenty-nine isolates of protease-producing microorganisms were isolated from three soil samples collected at Ban Mea Huag, Ban Khao Son and Chae Son National Park. The isolated microorganisms were grown on tryptic soy agar (TSA) at 37oC for 24-48 hours. Morphological tests of the isolates show that twenty-one were gram-positive and eight were gram-negative bacteria. Twenty-two of these were rod-shaped, four were short rod-shaped and three cocci-shaped. Protease production on skimmed milk agar showed that all isolates had positive results with a clear zone around the cultures. At 90.02 mm, the isolate MH2-4 pro had the widest statistically significant clear zone (p ≤ 0.05).