Production of Nattokinase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MRS18: A Bacterial Strain Isolated from Fermented Beans.

Background: Nattokinase (NK) is a naturally occurring fibrinolytic protease enzyme obtained from the traditional Japanese food called Natto and has several uses in the pharmaceutical and medical industries. Nowadays, the most often used thrombolytic agent in the clinical field is NK, in part because it is less expensive than other thrombolytic medicines.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the screening, isolation and characterization of the NK enzyme-producing Bacillus strain from fermented Soya beans.

Methods: The sample of fermented soya beans were tested for the presence of fibrinolytic protease- producing bacteria, followed by the screening, extraction, characterization and clot lysis assays.

Results: A total of three isolates were screened for caseinolytic activities by casein hydrolysis assay. Out of those isolates, MRS18 was found to be potent in producing the enzyme proteinase. To determine the taxonomy and phylogeny of these isolates, biochemical and molecular characterization has been carried out. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MRS18 has been found with the highest caseinolytic activity. The clot lysing ability of the potent strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was found to be 61.7% after 120 min, and on further purification, by ammonium sulphate precipitation method, the lysis percentage was found to be 656% after 120 min.

Conclusion: From the results of the present study, we concluded that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens isolated from the fermented soya beans produced an NK enzyme that exhibits immense potential to lyse blood clots.