Abstract :
The main purpose of this study was to isolate and briefly characterize proteolytic bacteria
from a poorly known habitat – raw wool. Fleece samples were accordingly collected from
Merino raw wool – a Portuguese ewe breed, at three distinct areas of their body, from
animals exhibiting no symptoms or signs of abnormalities; they were then subjected to
enumeration and isolation of a total of 158 bacterial strains. Said isolates were screened
for protease activity, using the spot technique, on Calcium Caseinate Agar containing 1%
(w/v) skim milk. The 36 isolates displaying the highest protease activity underwent a more
refined assessment of enzymatic performance – by examining their cell-free supernatant
extracts, using casein as substrate. Two Bacillus isolates were eventually chosen owing to
their highest proteolytic activities (24.6 and 15.9 U/mL), and identified using molecular
biology tools.
