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Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan
Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, was established on 1st December, 1985 with the objective to promote education, research and extension education in the fields of Horticulture, Forestry and allied disciplines. Late Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, the first Chief Minister and the architect of Himachal Pradesh perceived the importance of Horticulture and Forestry to develop and improve the State economy which led to the establishment of this University. Its history lies in erstwhile Himachal Agricultural College, Solan, established in 1962 and affiliated to the Panjab University. It became one of the campuses of Agriculture Complex of Himachal Pradesh University on its formation in 1970. Consequent upon the establishment of Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya in 1978, this campus became its Horticulture Complex and finally in 1985, assumed the status of a State University, being the only University in the country engaged exclusively in teaching, research and extension in Horticulture and Forestry.
The University is located at Nauni in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, 13 km from Solan on Solan-Rajgarh Road, at an elevation of 1300 metres above mean sea level. Solan town is situated on national highway (NH-22) and is well connected by train and bus services.
The University has four constituent colleges, out of which, two are located at the main campus Nauni, one for horticulture and the other for forestry, having 9 and 7 departments, respectively. The third College i.e., College of Horticulture & Forestry is located at Neri in Hamirpur District on Nadaun-Hamirpur state highway, about 6 Km from Hamirpur town and is well connected with bus service. The college offers three Undergraduate Degree Programmes i.e. BSc (Hons.) Horticulture, BSc (Hons.) Forestry and B. Tech. Biotechnology and MSc degree programme in a few subjects. The fourth college i.e. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Thunag (Mandi) is located at Thunag District Mandi. This college offer BSc (Hons.) Horticulture and BSc (Hons.) Forestry degree programme. In addition, there are five Regional Research Stations, 12 Satellite Stations and five Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) situated in different zones of the State.
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ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of different physicochemical and biological pretreatments for enzymatic hydrolysis of hardwood for ethanol production(YSPU, 2014) Kaushal, Richa; Sharma, NiveditaIn the present investigation, an attempt was made to utilize hardwood as substrate for its degradation by potential microorganisms and evaluated different pretreatments to enhance their rate of hydrolysis - a key step for its bioconversion to ethanol. In total 20 microorganisms including 17 bacteria and 3 fungi were isolated. Among them, SD5 and RS2 were screened for cellulase and SD8 for xylanase production and were identified as B. simplex SD5, B. subtilis RS2, B. subtilis SD8 by 16S rRNA PCR technique and registered with NCBI under accession no KF844070, KF844069 and KF844068, respectively. Among fungi, WF5 and RF1 were selected for enzyme production and were identified using ITS 5.8S rRNA technique as T. harzianum WF5 and R. oryzae RF1 and registered under accession no. KF844067 and KJ1921199, respectively. Cellulase and xylanase enzymes were optimized through classical approach one factor at a time (OFAT) and Response surface methodology (RSM) varying medium, pH, temperature, inoculum size, incubation time, and substrate concentration. The partial purification of hydrolytic enzymes was done by ammonium sulphate precipitation. Full length gene sequences of BsSD8-xylanase of B. subtilis SD8 and four GHs namely three subunits of cellulase, Endoglucanase (ThWF5-Endo-glucanase), Exo-glucanase (ThWF5-Exo-glucanase) and -glucosidase (ThWF5- Glucosidase), and xylanase (ThWF5-Xylanase) of T. harzianum WF5 were pulled out and characterized. To reduce the production cost of ethanol, cheap untreated and pretreated lignocellulosic forest biomass i.e. hardwood were used as a substrate for sugar production. Among different hardwood species used, Eucalyptus and P. deltoides wood were selected for saccharification by bacterial and fungal hydrolytic enzymes, respectively. Among different physical, chemical and biological pretreatments, H2SO4 + H2O2 + steam pretreatment was found best for sugar production. Bioconversion of H2SO4 + H2O2 + steam pretreated E. teretecornis and P. deltoides wood to ethanol was studied under two different fermentation processes i.e separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Different protocols had been designed to delimit the constraints of fermentation process. SHF was evaluated by modifying four different sub-processes of non-detoxification and detoxification as well as nonpooling and pooling of pretreated liquor. Maximum ethanol was achieved in protocol IV i.e. 7.02 g/l by co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis in E. teretecornis wood and 15.62 g/l in P. deltoides wood with fermentation efficiency of 61.05%. Scale up of SHF with P. deltoides wood using fungal enzymes and co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis was performed in 7.5 L bioreactor, achieving highest ethanol production after 52 h of fermentation. Among SHF and SSF, SHF in protocol IV i.e. pooled sample followed by detoxification was found to be the best and in case of strains used for fermentation, co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis was observed the best combination for highest bioethanol production.ThesisItem Open Access Characterization of plant growth regulators produced by fluorescent Pseudomonas species and their role in control of replant problem of apple and pear(DYSPU, 2013) Sharma, Shweta; Mohinder KaurIsolation, identification and characterization of native fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates for multifarious plant growth activities from normal and replant site of apple and pear orchard was done for selection of best plant growth regulators producing strains. These were screened out for plant growth promoting activities like production of plant growth regulators, phosphate solubilization, antifungal, siderophores, HCN, ammonia and lytic enzymes. Plant growth regulators are important secondary metabolites produced by fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. such as auxins, gibberellic acid and cytokinins which play significant role in increasing the root surface and length that may help in early establishment of plant in replant site. On the basis of PGPR activities, ten isolates were genotypically characterized. Two best isolates (An-1-kul and An-13-Kul) were selected for 16S rRNA sequencing. The sequence of the 16S rRNA gene is used as a molecular clock to estimate relationships among bacteria and to identify an unknown bacterium to the genus or species level). RAPD studies were also carried out with ten selected isolates which showed the best relatedness among isolates which were isolated from same location. Three regulators auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins were extracted and purified from twobest selected strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosaAn-1-kul and An-13-kul and were purified and characterized by TLC, Sephadex G-25, Dowex-50 column chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their specific bioassays. Partial purified cytokinins and auxins extracted from these two strains An-1-kul and An-13-kul were also evaluated by tissue culture bioassay on callus formation and shoot regeneration in broccoli explant and root regeneration in in vitrodeveloped shootlets of cabbage respectively. Three strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosaAn-1-kul and An-13-kul, An-4-shr were used individually and their consortia for treatment of apple and pear seedlings before plantation in replant field at Bajaura and Sharontha respectively. The performance of apple and pear seedlings was much better in terms of plant establishment, growth promotion in terms of plant height, number of nodesand number of branches, chlorophyll content of leaves and NPK of rhizospheric soil over their respective control after nine and twelve months of plantation. These strains can be further exploited and recommended for the management of replant problem of apple and pear after conducting more field trials in replant sites . These characterized strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa can have great importance in the field of horticulture, especially in the treatment of replant problem of apple and pear especially in Himachal Pradesh.ThesisItem Open Access Preparation of bioactive phosphocompost and its effect on soil properties and crop yield(YSPU, 2014) Thakur, Deepshikha; Kaushal, RajeshA total of twenty four purified bacterial, seventeen actinomycetes and twenty three fungal isolates were isolated from various samples collected from different niches and locations of District Shimla and Solan of Himachal Pradesh. These isolates were screened for their cellulolytic abilities and multifarious plant growth promoting traits. A compatible consortium consisiting of efficient isolates of bacteria (DB1), actinomycetes (DA7) and fungi (DF14) was developed for faster decomposition of organic wastes and higher phosphate solubilization from insoluble sources (rock phosphate and bone meal). The inoculation of tri-culture consortium (DB1+DA7+DF14) to the composting pits stacked with pine needles (pretreated with hot water > 70 °C) + agriwates + rock phosphate @ 3 % + bone meal @ 3 % + urea @ 1 %, resulted in higher reduction of C/N ratio (from 60:1 to 18:1), phosphate solubilization and increased cation exchange capacity over uninoculated control. The conjoint use of 75 % recommended dose of chemical fertilizers and 25 % phosphocompost, increased the yield by 58 % and 62 % for pea and tomato, respectively, over control. Besides saving 6.3, 14.9 and 14.4 kg /ha N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively in pea crop and 37.5, 30.08 and 15.6 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively in tomato crop, the conjoint use of phosphocompost and chemical fertilizers also improved fruit quality (number of grains per pod, pod length, pod girth, TSS in pea and fruit weight and TSS in tomato), available nutrient status, cation exchange capacity, soil enzymes (phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease) activity and other microbiological properties (total microbial count, microbial biomass and microbial activity) of soil.ThesisItem Open Access Production, purification and characterization of cellulase free xylanase from Cellulosimicrobium cellulans in solid state fermentation of apple pomace and its application in pulp biobleaching(YSPU, 2013) Walia, Abhishek; Shirkot, C.K.Alkalophilic Cellulosimicrobium cellulans CKMX1 isolated from mushroom compost is first report on actinomycete from Cellulomonas genera to produce cellulase-free xylanase, which is an important industrial enzyme used in the pulp and paper industry. Strain CKMX1 was characterized by metabolic fingerprinting, whole-cell fatty acids methyl ester analysis and 16Sr DNA and found to be Cellulosimicrobium cellulans CKMX1. Cultural conditions and process parameters i.e. type of medium, particle size of carbon source, incubation period, temperature, initial pH, inoculum size, yeast extract, NH4NO3, urea, peptone, CMC, MgSO4 and CaCO3 were optimized using one factor at a time approach and xylanase activity was increased to 570.0 U/g DBP. CMCase, avicelase, FPase and -glucosidase activities were not detected, highlighting the novelty of the xylanase enzyme produced by CKMX1. Further optimization of enzyme production was carried out using central composite design following response surface methodology with eight independent variables which resulted in very high levels of xylanase (1027.65 U/g DBP). The optimization resulted in 3.1-fold increase of xylanase production, compared with the lowest xylanase production of 331.50 U/g DBP. The enzyme was purified by gel permeation and anion exchange chromatography and had a molecular mass of 29 kDa. Xylanase activity was maximum at pH 8.0 and 60ºC. The enzyme was somewhat thermostable, retaining 50% of the original activity after incubation at 50ºC for 30 min. The xylanase had Km and Vmax values of 26.4 mM and 2,000 μmol/min/mg protein, respectively. All metal ions except HgCl2, CoCl2 as well as CdCl2 were well tolerated and did not adversely affect xylanase activity. The deduced internal amino acid sequence of C. cellulans CKMX1 xylanase by MALDI-TOF MS resembled the sequence of acetyl xylan esterase of the Thermotoga sp. EMP (Accession. no. WP_008192031). Molecular cloning was done by using pGEM-T easy vector and sequence of xylanase gene of C. cellulans CKMX1 showed maximum homology (98%) with xylanase gene of Cellulosimicrobium sp. (Accession no. FJ859907.1). The hydrolytic products of the insoluble oat spelt xylan incubated with xylanase were identified by xylose standards using HPLC. Xylanase effectively hydrolyzed xylan and the hydrolysis by xylanase produced mainly xylose as the main product after 5 min incubation time. Cellulase-free xylanase from C. cellulans CKMX1 under C-EP-D sequence has been shown to bring about a 12.5% reduction of chlorine, decrease of 0.8 kappa points (40%) and gain in brightness was 1.42 % ISO points in 0.5% enzyme treated pulp as compared to control where no enzyme pre-treatment was given, when enzymatically prebleached pulp was charged with 7.4% of total chlorine. From the present studies it is clear that C. cellulans CKMX1 xylanase is having the characteristic suited for an industrial enzyme (xylanases that are active and stable at elevated temperatures and alkaline pH).ThesisItem Open Access Bioconversion of cellulosic waste into bioethanol as biofuel(DYSPU, 2013) Sharma, Nisha; Sharma, NiveditaThe present investigation was carried out to isolate, screen and identify the most efficient cellulolytic and xylanolytic microorganisms from soil. Mutation of hypercellulase and xylanase producers, enzyme production, optimization, partial purification, bioconversion of cellulosic waste into bioethanol and scale up studies were performed with selected strains to recommend their use for industries. In total 89 microorganisms including 84 bacteria and 5 fungi were isolated. Among them, ten hypercellulase and xylanase producing bacteria were subjected to mutation for enhanced enzyme production. N 12 (M) and Kd1(M) were screened for cellulase and xylanase enzyme production studies. The wild and mutant bacterial isolates were identified as B. stratosphericus N12 (W), B. stratosphericus N12 (M), B. altitudinis Kd1 (W) and B. altitudinis Kd1 (M) respectively by 16S rRNA PCR technique and registered with NCBI under accession no. |KC995116|, |KC995118|, |KC995115| and |KC995117|. Cellulase and xylanase enzymes were optimized through classical approach one factor at a time (OFAT) under submerged fermentation varying medium, pH, temperature, inoculum size, incubation time, carbon source and substrate concentration. The percent increase in enzyme activity obtained after optimization of different process parameters was 85.23% for cellulase of B. stratosphericus N12(M) and 85.60% for xylanase of B. altitudinis Kd1(M). To reduce the production cost of enzymes, cheap untreated and pretreated lignocellulosic forest biomass i.e. hardwood and softwood wereused as a substrate under SmF by B. stratosphericusN12(M) and B. altitudinisKd1 (M), SSF by M. thermophilaSH1 and among them alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreated P. deltoideswood was found the best for hypercellulase and xylanase production under SmF as well as SSF. The partial purification of hydrolytic enzymes was done by ammonium sulphate precipitation. Scale up of cellulase from B. stratosphericus N12(M) as well as xylanase from B. altitudinisKd1 (M) was performed in 7.5 L bioreactor at 200 rpm, 1 vvm and 30 0 C, achieving 2.443 IU cellulase and 11.10 IU xylanase respectively, afteronly 8 h of fermentation. Bioconversion of alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreated P. deltoideswood to ethanol was studied under three different fermentation processes i.e separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF). Different strategies had been designed to delimit the constraints of fermentation process. SHF was evaluated by modifying four different sub-processes of detoxification and non-detoxification as well as pooling and nonpooling of pretreated liquor. Maximum ethanol was achieved in method –IV of SHF i.e. 18.47g/l by co-culture of S. cerevisiae II and P. stipitis with the fermentation efficiency of 72.46%. Among all the three processes of fermentation evaluated in the present study, SHF was found to be the best and in case of strains used for fermentation, co-culture of S. cerevisiaeII and P. stipitiswas observed the best combination for highest bioethanol production.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on characterization and role of 2,4-Diacetylphloroglucinol and Pyoluteorin produced by fluorescent Pseudomonas species in replant site of apple orchard(YSPU, 2015) Rana, Sheetal; Kaur, MohinderThe present study focuses on characterization of secondary antifungal metabolites i.e. 2,4- diacetylphloroglucinol and Pyoluteorin produced by fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. isolated from the normal and replant sites of apple orcards. Six strains were isolated from the replant sites of Maggota, Sharontha and Siao of Shimla distt. and thirteen already isolated strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. from replant sites of apple were used for screening of direct and indirect plant growth promoting activities like antifungal, siderophores, phosphate solubilization and production of HCN, ammonia, plant growth regulators (auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins) and lytic enzymes. Isolates Sh2r, Sh4r and B showed 99.7%, 98.4% and 99% similarity with Pseudomonas poae DSM14936 and Pseudomonas gessardii CIP105469 respectively. Six fungal pathogenic sp. isolated from replant sites of apple of Shimla distt. i.e. MgF1 and MgF2 showed 99.2% and 99.1% similarity with Rosellinia necatrix and Fusarium oxysporum, ShF1 and ShF2 showed 99.5% and 99.2% similarity with Fusarium oxysporum and Schizophyllum commune & SiF1 and SiF2 showed 99.2% and 100% similarity with Fusarium oxysporum and Pythium ultimum. Optimization of media, time of incubation, temperature, pH, carbon, nitrogen and mineral sources were done for production and extraction of antifungal metabolites i.e. 2,4- diacetylphloroglucinol & Pyoluteorin and for mass multiplication of inoculums for field trials. These metabolites were extracted with ethylacetate and identified through TLC at Rf 0.8 and 0.5 respectively. Antifungal activity, MIC and thermal stability of both these metabolites were evaluated. 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol was further characterized through HPLC and NMR techniques. Antifungal activities of Pseudomonas sp. help in suppression of plant pathogens in soil. Antifungal activity along with other plant growth promoting activities may be the reasons for better establishment and growth promotion of replanted apple. Treatments with formulations of consortial strains were found to be more effective in growth and establishment of replanted apple. Therefore these strains can be exploited for the management of replant problem of apple.ThesisItem Open Access Purification and characterization of amylase produced from potential extremophiles for industrial application(YSPU, 2015) Gitanjali; Sharma, NiveditaMushroom compost being a highly probable source for amylogenic microorganisms was utilized as a source for isolation of amylolytic microorganisms. In total, 13 amylolytic bacteria have been screened from mushroom compost. Among them, alkalothermophilic hyperamylogenic strains GC6 and GV2 were selected and identified as B. aerius GC6 |KJ 775810.1| and B. sonorensis GV2 |KJ775811.1|. Cultural conditions and process parameters viz. media types, pH, temperature, inoculum size, incubation time, substrate concentration, divalent ions and surfactants etc. were optimized firstly through classical one variable at a time (OVAT) followed by statistical optimization by employing central composite design of response surface methodology. The enzymes obtained from both the strains were purified to homogeneity by following a sequential purification approach. B. aerius GC6 α-amylase was purified to a final purification fold of 17.86 and had a molecular weight of 43 kDa whereas B. sonorensis GV2 α-amylase was purified to a final purification fold of 14.52 and had a molecular weight of 45 kDa. α-amylase activity was found to be maximum at 50 oC and pH 9.0 for B. aerius GC6 and at 50 oC and pH 10.0 for B. sonorensis GV2. α-amylase from both the strains was quite thermostable with retention of more than 50% activity after incubation of 90 min at 45-60 oC. Kinetic characteristics of α-amylase from both the strains showed that the enzyme was very efficient qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Raw starch adsorption and hydrolysis ability shown by α-amylase from both the strains is a rare feature of bacterial α-amylase making it a potential candidate for starch processing industry. Immobilization of purified α-amylase from both the strains onto natural hydrogels showed a considerable retention upto 8 cycles however immobilization using iron oxide nano particles proved to be quite stable with apparently no loss in activity even after 20 cycles. Applicability of purified α-amylase from B. aerius GC6 was assessed by utilizing it for the hydrolysis of Hydrodictyon biomass for the production of bioethanol. Mixture of α-amylase, β-amylase, cellulase and pectinase from potential inhouse microorganisms was used for saccharification of biomass followed by its fermentation to ethanol using S. cerevisiae-I (MTCC3089). A final ethanol concentration of 13.93 g/l and 16.67 g/l with a fermentation efficiency of 64.84% and 66.68% was obtained in a stirred tank bioreactor under separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) mode respectively. This is the first report on α- amylase from B. aerius and B. sonorensis. Thermal and alkaline stability of this enzyme makes them a potential candidate for use in starch processing industry.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria on Growth of Apple in Replant Sites(YSPU, 2014) Sharma, Ranjna; Kaur, MohinderThe ability of fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates to convert insoluble forms of phosphorus to an accessible form is an important trait of phosphate solubilizing bacteria to overcome replant problem of apple to some extent. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants, but it is often not available due to its fixation in soil. Little is known about the composition of phosphate solubilizing bacteria specially, fluorescent Pseudomonas diversity associated with apple rhizosphere. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to isolate fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates from normal and replant sites of apple orchard. The fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. are plant beneficial rhizobacteria with all the direct and indirect plant growth promoting activities like siderophores, phosphate solubilization, antifungal and production of HCN; ammonia; plant growth regulators (auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins) and lytic enzymes. Six strains producing high levels of P- solubilization and other PGP activities were selected for further characterization and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and RAPD analysis. Accession no. provided from NCBI to P. putida KF751235, P. fluorescens KF751236 and to four strains of P. aeruginosa were KJ522923, KJ522924, KJ500025 and KJ500026. Different organic acids were estimated through HPLC by selecting four strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa i.e. An-E, An-F, An-G and An-H which were also used for bioformulation development. Succinic acid, malonic acid, citric acid and malic acid were detected as major organic acids with small percentage of tartaric acid, fumaric, quinic, schimic and lactic acid. The production, partial purification and characterization of acid and alkaline phosphatase was done from best selected strain of Pseudomonas sp. An-H with molecular weight 20.1 kDa and 66 kDa, respectively. This phosphorus solubilization property of fluorescent Pseudomonas help in the growth and establishment of apple rootstocks in replant sites and results in increase of Pseudomonas population and decreased total rhizobacterial and fungal spopulation. Therefore these strains can be exploited for the management of replant problem of apple.ThesisItem Open Access Characterization of alkaline protease from plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and their potential applications(YSPU, 2015) Shiwani; Shirkot, C.K.Rhizosphere of apple trees of Trans Himalayas is great niche of proteolytic bacteria which may have potential for use in industries. A total of 76 proteolytic bacteria were obtained from rhizosphere soil and root endosphere of apple trees from different sites of four locations viz., Chamba, Shimla, Kinnaur and Kullu of Himachal Pradesh, India, which were screened for plant growth promoting traits including phosphate solubilization, IAA, hydrogen cyanide production and production of antifungal metabolite. Among them, 17 isolates that exhibited maximum alkaline protease activity were selected. The diversity elucidation and differentiation of isolates was achieved through their biochemical characterization and amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis with three tetra-cutter restriction enzymes (Hpa II, Hinf I and TaqI), the representative cluster groups were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing. This brings to light the predominance of Bacillus sp. and presence of remarkable intraspecies functional and genotypic diversity in apple rhizosphere. Proteolytic acitivity among selected isolates ranged between 50 to 1610 μg/ml/min at pH 8.0 and maximum was observed for Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SP1 (1610 μg/ml/min). Maximum enzyme production for B. amyloliquefaciens SP1 was observed, when fermentation medium, supplemented with 1.0% gelatin at pH 8.0 was incubated at 35°C for 48 h with 1.0% inoculun size and maltose as carbon source. Further optimization by Plackett Burman design and Response surface methodology resulted 2.08-fold increase in alkaline protease production (3350 μg/ml/min). The enzyme was purified by gel permeation and cation exchange chromatography and had a molecular mass of 43 kDa. Protease activity was optimum at pH 8.0 and 60°C. The half-life of the enzyme at 50, 60 and 65⁰C was 77, 19.8 and 13.33 min. The protease had Km, V max and Ea values of 0.125 mg/ml, 12820 μg min-1 and 34.52 kJ/mol in casein hydrolysis, respectively. All metal ions except Hg2+ and Cu2+ were well tolerated. The deduced internal amino acid sequence of B. amyloliquefaciens SP1 protease by MALDI-TOF MS resembled the sequence with D-alanyl-D-alanine carboxypeptidase of Bacillus subtilis strain 168. An alkaline protease gene was amplified from genomic DNA, cloned and successfully expressed in competent cells of E. coli DH5 . Most reliable three dimensional structure for protease was predicted by using Phyre2 server. This study reported the shortest time of 1:30 min at 3630 μg/ml/min and 4:30 min at74 μg/ml/min of enzyme activity for hydrolysis of gelatin layers of used X-ray film. It has revealed strain removal property and dehairing activity for animal hide without chemical assistance and without hydrolyzing fibrous proteins. This study also reported significant role of protease in antagonistic activity against C. michiganensis, R. solanacearum and F. oxysporium.