Extracellular enzyme production by environmental strains of Serratia spp. isolated from river Narmada

Serratia a gram-negative enteric bacterium is generally recovered from clinical samples as an opportunistic human pathogen and rarely from water and soil. The extracellular enzymes produced by pathogen add to its virulence. In the present study, the extracellular enzymes secretion by 26 environmental strains of Serratia spp., isolated from different stations of river Narmada was investigated. Majority of isolates were capable of producing extracellular enzymes i.e., amylase, protease, lipase and chitinase, suggesting that they can be exploited as biocontrol and biodegrading agents. All the isolates, except S. fonticola were found to be potent protease producers, while only five isolates of S. marcescens produced chitinase.