eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 0973-1245 2016-06-10 11 Spl.Edn.1 211 220 10.13005/bbra/1413 11829 article Jacky Bhagat 1,2 M. Venkatramani 1 A. Jaffar Hussain 2,3 M. Jayaprakashvel 2,3 Biological Oceanographic Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa – 403004, India Department of Marine Biotechnology, AMET University, 135, East Coast Road, Kanathur, Chennai-603112, India Centre for Marine Bioprospecting, AMET University, 135, East Coast Road, Kanathur, Chennai-603112, India Chitin is a naturally abundant amino polysaccharide found in the shell of crustaceans, insects etc. It has become of great interest because of their biological, industrial and biomedical applications. Shrimp by product has become available in abundance in India in the last few years. The conventional demineralization, deproteination and decoloration method of extraction of chitin from crustacean waste is costly and causes environmental problems. In this study bioconversion of chitinous material has been proposed as a waste treatment alternative to the disposal of shellfish wastes. A total of 79 bacteria were isolated from different marine samples samples collected in Kanathur Chennai. Among 79, 13 have produced fluorescent pigments in Kings B Agar Medium. Primary screening for enzyme production revealed that 22 strains were having the ability to show chitinase activity and 54, 41 and 35 strains exhibited proteolytic activity when skimmed milk, gelatin and casein were used as substrates respectively. From the primary screening, 8 strains were shortlisted based on their ability to produce fluorescent pigments and strong chitinase and protease activity. Selected 8 strains alone subjected to secondary screening where quantification of chitinase and protease, chitinase and protease activity in high salinity and shelf life during immobilized state was analyzed and found that threestrains namely AMET1756, AMET 1767 and AMET1776are the most suitable for deproteination of shrimp shell wastes. However, all the eight bacterial strains were immobilized with sodium alginate and tested for their effect on deproteination of shrimp shell powder (SSP). It has been observed that a protein removal of 44.20% was observed after 7 days of incubation for AMET 1776 and 40.80 % using AMET 1767. Both the strains have retained their deproteinization potential even after reuse of the same beads (22.70% and 23.20%) respectively. Among these strains, AMET1776 was selected and identified as Pseudomonas sp. Thus, the study increases the scope of using these two efficient marine associated fluorescent pseudomonads for the deproteination of shrimp shell wastes. https://www.biotech-asia.org/vol11_nospl_edn1/deproteination-of-shrimp-shell-wastes-using-immobilized-marine-associated-pseudomonad-amet1776/ Chitin; shrimp shell waste; bioconversion; immobilization; Pseudomonads