Keratinous waste is one of the major biological waste which is found in abundance in nature. At present this waste is managed by dumping or by physical or chemical treatment causing pollution in the environment and the waste remains underutilized. However, it can be utilized in an environment safe manner with the help of keratinolytic microorganisms. In the present study bacteria were isolated and screened from different sources for keratinase production using chicken feathers. Initially 265 bacterial isolates were obtained from 29 samples after enrichment. On the basis of zone of hydrolysis on skim milk agar 142 bacterial isolates were found to be proteolytic. But when tested for degradation of chicken feathers only 13 isolates could solubilise the feathers completely within 7 days. The K:C activity of all these 13 isolates was more than 0.5. The isolates were examined for morphological and biochemical characteristics. All the 13 isolates were found to be Gram positive, sporulating and belonging to genus Bacillus. Selected isolates shows great potential to utilise keratinous (white chicken feathers) waste, making them suitable candidate for keratinase production at industrial level.
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2022: 6.012
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