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Eighty three microorganisms containing phytase activity were isolated from different sources of soil. Strain M46 was found to have the highest enzyme activity among these organisms. For further improvement, Aspergillus ficuum NRRL 3135 and strain M46 were treated with the mutagenic agent NTG (N-methyl-N-nitro-N'-nitrosoguanidine) and plated onto PSM agar containing calcium phytate as a selective medium. One of the NTG-treated strains, A. ficuum mutant A200413, showed considerably higher phytase activity than the parent strain A. ficuum NRRL 3135 and was chosen for further investigation. This mutant strain A200413 was cultivated in shaking flasks and the optimal medium for the phytase production by this strain were as follows: molasses, 12.93%; ammonium nitrate, 0.5%; KCl; 0.05%; MgSO4.7H2O, 0.05%; KH2PO4, 0.002%; FeSO4. 7H2O, 0.001%; and MnSO4.4H2O, 0.001%. For cuitivations, initial pH at 4.0, inoculum size at 10(7) spores/50 ml, incubation temperature at 35℃, and shaking rate at 150 rpm were found to be the optimal conditions. The maximal phytase activity of 5633.34 U/ml was obtained after 6 days of incubation under the optional conditions. The optimal temperature and pH for the crude ezyme activity of mutant A200413 were 58-60℃ and 5.5, respectively. This enzyme was stable at pH 2.0 and pH 4.0 and maintained 90% of its activity after incubated at 55℃ for 10 min. After 60 days of storage at -20℃, only 20% loss of enzyme activity was found. The activity of the crude phytase was found to be inhibited by Ag+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Mn2+, Na+, Zn2+ and oxalate, whereas the enzyme activity was increased by the presence of Mg2+, citrate and EDTA. Ca2+ and K+ had no effect on the catalytic rate of the crude phytase from strain A200413.
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