Streptomyces sp. strain AH4 exhibited a high ability to produce two extracellular proteases when cultured on a yeast malt-extract (ISP2)-casein-based medium. Pure proteins were obtained after heat treatment (30 min at 70 °C) and ammonium sulphate fractionation (30–60 %), followed by size exclusion HPLC column. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the purified enzymes (named SAPS-P1 and SAPS-P2) were monomers with molecular masses of 36,417.13 and 21,099.10 Da, respectively. Their identified N-terminal amino acid displayed high homologies with those of Streptomyces proteases. While SAPS-P1 was optimally active at pH 12.0 and 70 °C, SAPS-P2 showed optimum activity at pH 10.0 and 60 °C. Both enzymes were completely stable within a wide range of temperature (45–75 °C) and pH (8.0–11.5). They were noted to be completely inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride and diisopropyl fluorophosphates, which confirmed their belonging to the serine proteases family. Compared to SAPS-P2, SAPS-P1 showed high thermostability and excellent stability towards bleaching, denaturing, and oxidizing agents. Both enzymes displayed marked stability and compatibility with a wide range of commercial laundry detergents and significant catalytic efficiencies compared to Subtilisin Carlsberg and Protease SG-XIV. Overall, the results indicated that SAPS-P1 and SAPS-P2 can be considered as potential promising candidates for future application as bioadditives in detergent formulations.
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