A lipase producing strain B1213 isolated from soil was identified as Burkholderia pyrrocinia based on 16S rRNA gene and recA sequeence analysis, making this the first report on the presence of a lipase from B. pyrrocinia. Under an aqueous two-phase purification strategy, which included (ATPE)-ion-exchange chromatography (IEC)-gel and filtration chromatography (GFC), the specific activity of the 35-kDa lipase was determined to be 875.7 U/mg protein. The optimum pH and temperature of this lipase was pH 8.0 and 50 °C, respectively. The lipase retained > 85% activity in isopropanol and acetone at 30 °C for 10 min but the activity was reduced to 10.6% in n-hexane. Mg2+, Al3+, Mn2+, and Fe3+ enhanced lipase activity at both 1 mM and 5 mM concentrations. p-NPP, a long-chain acyl group 4-NP ester, appeared to be a good substrate candidate.
Keywords: B. pyrrocinia; Characterization; Lipase; Purification; Screening.