Search for new pharmacological agents is a priority area of research in cancer biology due to the inefficiency of the existing therapeutic approaches toward this disease. L-methioninase enzymatic approach has shown considerable beneficial effects in reducing cancer burden in experimental models. In this regard, the present study is aimed at isolating soil microorganisms that produce L-methioninase with highest enzyme activity and evaluating their anticancer and antioxidant potentials. Fifty different soil samples were collected and screened for L-methioninase producers, from which two isolates with highest L-methioninase activity, KA-S2 (with 32.43 ± 2.16 U/mL activity) and TN-S33 (with 122.76 ± 2.12 U/mL activity) were selected. These promising isolates were subjected to molecular characterization by 16s rRNA sequencing. The BLAST sequence analysis in the NCBI database showed the sequence similarity of KA-S2 isolate to Streptomyces diastaticus with 99.55% similarity and that of TN-S33 to Methylobacterium aminovorans with 99.86% similarity. The sequences were deposited in the NCBI database as Streptomyces sp. JUBTK2 with the Accession number MN372078 and Methylobacterium sp. strain JUBTK33 with the Accession number MN372079.1. When the enzymes from these isolates were checked for antioxidant and anticancer activities, they demonstrated high antioxidant and anticancer potentials. It can be concluded from the present study results that the enzyme extracted from the new isolates has high L-methioninase activity coupled with promising anticancer potential.
Key words: L-Methioninase, Methylobacterium sp., Antioxidant, Anticancer, Phylogeny
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