ISOLATION, MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF FERMENTATION PARAMETERS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF L-ASPARAGINASE, AN ANTICANCER AGENT BY FUSARIUM EQUISETI

L-asparaginase (L-asparagine amido hydrolase, E.C.3.5.1.1) is an extra cellular enzyme that has receivedconsiderable attention since it is used as an anticancer agent. In the present study, the fungal isolates from rhizospheresoils were screened for the L-asparaginase production by using modified Czapek Dox agar containing L-asparagine andphenol red as indicator. The strain isolated from rhizosphere soil of Ipomoea muricata showed the maximum zone diameterof 1.05 cm. The 16s rDNA sequence analysis indicated that the strain was most closely related to Fusarium equiseti.Various physical and chemical parameters were optimized under solid state fermentation (SSF) for L-asparaginaseproduction. Further, it was observed that maximum activity of 3.26 IU was achieved by employing soya bean meal assubstrate, with incubation period of 48 hrs and incubation temperature at 45oC at pH 7 with di potassium hydrogenphosphate and manganese as the best phosphate and metal ion source respectively.