Vol 5, No 1, December 2014.

Extracellular enzymes production by microbiota isolated from human eye infections in Taiz City, Yemen


Abstract: A total of 13 isolates representing 7 species of 4 fungal genera isolated from human eye infections in Taiz City, Yemen were screened for their abilities to produce some extracellular enzymes. All tested isolates were able to produce lipase and catalase, while only 10 and 4 isolates exhibited protease and urease respectively. Only 1 isolate could produce coagulase enzyme. Isolates related to Aspergillus flavus, A. oryzae, A. niger and Cochliobolus lunatus exhibited high enzyme production. On the other hand, most of the 95 tested bacterial isolates could produce catalase (89.5% of the isolates), protease (86.3%) and coagulase (53.7%). Other enzymes such as urease and lipase were detected in 42.1% and 30.5% of the isolates respectively. Isolates belonging to Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, S. saprophyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus showed high enzyme activities. Key Words: Microbial enzymes, eye infections, fungi, bacteria.