Protease production by free and immobilized cells of the cold-adapted yeast Cryptococcus victoriae CA-8

The present study was performed to produce the protease using free and immobilized cells of locally isolated cold-adapted psychrotolerant yeast Cryptococcus victoriae CA-8. Cell immobilization was performed using sodium alginate as entrapping agent. The best conditions for enzyme production by both free and immobilized cells of the yeast were temperature of 15°C and initial pH of 8.0. The optimal incubation times were 72 and 96 h for immobilized and free cells, respectively. Immobilized cells were reused in 3 successive reaction cycles without any loss in the maximum protease activity. Little decreases in the protease activity were observed in 4 and 5 cycles. Under the optimized conditions, the maximum enzyme activities were determined as 12.1 and 13.5 U/mL for free and immobilized cells, respectively. This is a first attempt on cold-active alkaline protease production by free and/or immobilized cells of yeasts. Besides, the protease activity of the yeast C. victoriae CA-8 was investigated for the first time in the present study.