Screening for production of amylase and protease by locally-isolated Bacillus spp. from soil collected in Taguig City and Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines

Amylase and protease are two of the most commonly used enzymes in the pharmaceutical industry. Particularly, Bacillus spp. is widely regarded as a “factory” of these enzymes. In this study, a total of 40 isolates were collected from four soil samples from different metropolitan sites namely, near Chemicals and Energy Division (CED), and National Metrology Laboratory (NML) oil tankers parking lot inside the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Compound in Taguig City, and two metropolitan-volcanic sites in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga (CRK1, CRK2). Of these, 33 isolates were deemed putative Bacillus spp. via phenotypic assays and were screened for the production of amylase and protease. Results showed that 26 of the screened isolates were able to produce protease and 12 were positive for amylase production. Molecular identification revealed that the enzyme-producing isolates were Bacillus spp., B. cereus, B. aryabhattai, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. firmus , B. velezensis , and Fictibacillus sp. No isolate was able to produce amylase alone. These results show the potential of Bacillus spp. from metropolitan soil as sources of pharmaceutically-important enzymes.