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Masele Mankge

Position: 
MSc student at the University of Johannesburg

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Topic: 
Screening and characterisation of alkaline proteases from Bacillus endophytes and biotechnological applications

Alkaline proteases are enzymes with important industrial uses. They can be applied in detergents, leather degumming, food and feed industry, X-ray recovery and in pharmaceuticals. There is ongoing research for proteases, which can meet industrial demands and remain stable under harsh industrial conditions, such as high temperature and pH. Most sources explored include microorganisms isolated from various soil and water sources. Endophytes: micro-organisms that have an endosymbiotic relationship with plants and can produce a plethora of secondary metabolites, remain a largely unexplored source of proteases. Thus, the main aim of this research is to screen for production of alkaline proteases from endophytes, to characterise and identify potential biotechnological applications.