Production of extracellular L-arginase by Alcaligenes aquatilis BC2 isolated from soda lakes (Lake Chitu) of Ethiopia

Description

Birhan Assega and co-authors hunted soda lakes in Ethiopia for bacteria that make the enzyme L-arginase, a candidate cancer drug. The enzyme starves cancer cells by breaking down an amino acid they need. From thirty-one water samples the team grew 102 colonies and screened them for enzyme output. The best producer, a strain of Alcaligenes aquatilis from Lake Chitu, was identified by gene sequencing. Tuning eight growth conditions nearly doubled its output.

The work, published in 2024, shows that extreme soda-lake microbes can supply a medically interesting enzyme at useful levels. Bacterial production matters because the enzyme must be made cheaply and in bulk to be a practical therapy. The authors present the strain and its tuned recipe as a starting point for development. Further steps would test the enzyme's purity, safety, and real anticancer effect, none of which this screening study attempts.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12259280