Pilot-scale production of a highly thermostable α-amylase enzyme from Thermotoga petrophila cloned into E. coli and its application as a desizer in textile industry

In this study, the industrial applications of a highly thermostable α-amylase as a desizer in the textile industry was evaluated. The cloned gene was expressed in different media (ZBM, LB, ZYBM9, and ZB) with IPTG (isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside) used as an inducer. Lactose was also used as an alternate inducer for the T7 promoter system in E. coli. For the large-scale production of the enzyme, different parameters were optimized. The maximum enzyme production was achieved when the volume of medium was 70% of the total volume of fermenter with a 2.0 vvm air supply and 20% dissolved oxygen at a 200 rpm agitation rate. Under all the optimized conditions, the maximum enzyme production was 22.08 U ml−1 min−1 with lactose (200 mM) as an inducer in ZBM medium. The desizing potential of the purified α-amylase enzyme was calculated with different enzyme concentrations (50–300 U ml−1) at different temperatures (50–100 °C), and pHs (4–9) with varying time intervals (30–120 min). The highest desizing activity was found when 150 U ml−1 enzyme units were utilized at 85 °C and at 6.5 pH for 1 h.