Abstract

Metagenomics is a magnificent tool to isolate genes from unknown/uncharacterized species and also from organisms that cannot be cultured. In this study, we constructed a meta-genomic library from isolated DNA of soil samples collected from Palamuru University campus premises, in Mahabub-nagar district of Andhra Pradesh, India. We isolated a novel lipase gene LipHim1, which has an open reading frame of 591 base pairs and encodes ~23 kDa protein consisting of 196 amino acids. The Lipase LipHim1 showed maximum 32% homology at the protein level with the extracellular Aeromonas hydrophila lipase (Class II, GDSL family) and was significantly different from all other known lipases. The isolated lipase catalyzed the hydrolysis of fatty acid esters of polyoxyethylene sorbitan such as Tween 60. Our results in-dicate that the isolated lipase gene is novel.

• Keywords: metagenomic library; lipase; LipHim1 gene; Tween 60