Isolation and Screening of Bacteria from Agro-Waste Dumpsites for Methionine Production

Abstract

Methionine is an essential amino acid for humans and animals as it is linked to protein translation which is considered inevitable for growth and development. This study is aimed at isolating and screening methionine producing bacteria from agrowaste (corn cob, sugarcane bagasse, plantain trunk and groundnut shell dumpsites) dumpsites. The methionine producing bacteria was isolated from the agro waste dumpsites and screened for methionine production in a minimal salt medium (MSM) containing glucose 4.0 g, (NH4)2SO4 2.0, K2HPO4, 0.05 g KH2PO4, 0.05 MgSO4.7H2O, 0.1g FeSO4.7H2O, 0.01g MnSO4.H20 0.0l g, CaCO3 2g, dH2O 1 L, pH 5.6. The amount of methionine produced by each isolate was determined by a methionine assay carried out using a spectrophotometer at 540 nm. A total of nine (9) bacteria were isolated from the agro-waste dumpsites. The isolate with the highest methionine production was identified as Sutcliffiella cohnii ON716477 based on its cultural, biochemical and molecular characteristics. The highest reducing sugar 22.96 mg/ml and methionine (1.12 mg/ml) were obtained from corn cob. This study revealed that bacterial isolates from agro-waste dumpsite can be utilized for methionine production.