Background and Aim: Alkaline proteases are used in pharmaceutical, film and photography, silk production and food, leather and detergent industries. Actinomycetes are gram positive bacteria that produce different enzymes such as proteases. The aims of this research were isolation of native alkaline protease-producing Actinomycete spp. from different soil samples as well as optimizing the conditions for enzyme production.

Materials and Methods: The different soil samples were collected from different locations of the provinces of Khouzestan, Chahar Mahalo Bakhtiari and Isfahan, Iran. After determining of the best alkaline protease producing species using Lowry method, the optimization of alkaline protease was performed.

Results: The alkaline protease producing Actinomycete spp. was isolated from soil. The most enzyme activity was measured in S.diastaticus. The best concentration of sucrose as the carbon source for the highest production of alkaline protease was 10 g/l. The optimum pH and temperature for the alkaline protease production by S. diastaticus were 10 and 30°C respectively. The maximum activity of alkaline protease was measured at 200 rpm as the best aeration speed.

Conclusions: This is the first report of alkaline protease production by Streptomyces diastaticus in Iran. The accomplished examinations in this research confirmed the previous theories of alkaline protease production by Actinomycetes relatively. Regarding the immense applications of alkaline proteases in several industries and isolation of a native alkaline protease producing Actinomycete, The production potential of this enzyme in our country could be accessible in the near future.