ABSTRACT

Environmental pollution is an issue of global concern and feather waste which is a by- product of the growing poultry industry is an example of a pollutant not easily degraded by common proteolytic enzymes. However, feathers when acted upon by keratinolytic microbes are degraded to smaller peptides and amino acids which can be used as dietary supplements in animal feed. Keratin is an insoluble protein macromolecule with very high stability and a low degradation rate. Keratin is mainly present in hair, feathers, nails, wool, and horns. The present study deals with the isolation, identification, and characterization of keratinolytic bacteria from chicken feathers. One type of poultry feather and One Type of poultry feather dumping soil were collected from Melmangalam and Vadugapatti in Tamilnadu, South India. Two types of feather degrading keratinolytic Bacillus sp ecies were isolated and identified using various microbiological and biochemical procedures. They were screened by their growth and feather degrading ability on feather meal agar, and they were named Bacillus sp 1 and 2. The proteolytic activities of the isolates were screened on casein agar. Secondary screening of the isolates was determined by keratinase activity. The isolates were confirmed as Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis by 16S rDNA sequencing. Keywords: Chicken feather, Keratinolytic bacteria, Bacillus sp , proteolytic activity
Publication date: 01/02/2023

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2023/February/MS_IJBPAS_2023_6822.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2023/12.2.6822