Keratinase production and keratin degradation by a mutant strain of Bacillus subtilis

A new feather-degrading bacterium was isolated from a local feather waste site and identified as Bacillus subtilis based on morphological, physiochemical, and phylogenetic characteristics. Screening for mutants with elevated keratinolytic activity using N-methyl-N＇-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis resulted in a mutant strain KD-N2 producing keratinolytic activity about 2.5 times that of the wild-type strain. The mutant strain produced inducible keratinase in different substrates of feathers, hair, wool and silk under submerged cultivation. Scanning electron microscopy studies showed the degradation of feathers, hair and silk by the keratinase. The optimal conditions for keratinase production include initial pH of 7.5, inoculum size of 2% （v/v）, age of inoculum of 16 h, and cultivation at 23 ℃. The maximum keratinolytic activity of KD-N2 was achieved after 30 h. Essential amino acids like threonine, valine, methionine as well as ammonia were produced when feathers were used as substrates. Strain KD-N2, therefore, shows great promise of finding potential applications in keratin hydrolysis and keratinase production.

Applying the mutation of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>and the optimization of feather fermentation medium to improve <i>Keratinase</i>activity

Energetic Bacillus subtilis was preliminarily isolated from feather meal selection medium experiment, which could be used to produce Keratinase. Through using the ultraviolet ray produced by ultraviolet light and the compound mutation of sodium nitrite solution, a mutated strain was produced which can yield Kerati-nase with a high activity. The activity of Keratinase was 75.9% higher than that before the compound mutation. This was achieved by optimizing the fermentation medium of mutated strain. The optimum fermentation medium had the parameters as feather meal 5.5%, maize silage 0.8%, K+ 0.018 mol/L, Mg2+ 0.065 mol/L, Ca2+ 0.072 mol/L, Fe2+ 0.010 mol/L, and Na+ 0.088 mol/L. Based on the optimized fermentation medium, the highest yielding rate for producing enzyme was 1.117 U/mL, 25.22% higher than that before the optimization. The amino acid in the fermentation medium fluid reached 22.66 mg/mL. This paper presents a simple, and low cost way to produce high quality bio-fermentation feather meal.

Characterization of an extreme alkaline-stable keratinase from the draft genome of feather-degrading Bacillus sp.JM7 from deep-sea

Bacillus sp. JM7, a strain isolated from the deep-sea of the South China Sea, was found to efficiently degrade 79.4% native chicken feather within 30 h. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that JM7 strain could gradually degrade feather by modifying the microstructure of feather keratin. A total of 25 protease genes were predicted from the draft genome of JM7 strain, among which a predicted subtilisin-like serine protease(designated as Ker02562) was further characterized for its keratinolytic activity. The recombinant Ker02562 functioned at a wide range of temperatures from 30℃ to 60℃, with an optimum at 40–50℃. Ker02562 was highly active at various pHs ranging from 5.0 to 13.0, with a maximum activity observed at pH 7.0–9.0. Remarkably, recombinant Ker02562 was stable in extreme alkaline environments(pH 10–13), which was much better than most other reported keratinases. Collectively, these favorable properties could make Bacillus sp. JM7 and Ker02562 attractive to be applied in the detergent formulation and feather bioconversion.

Physiological Study of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia DHHJ in Feather Biodegradation:Structural Remodeling of Cell Surface and Dynamic Change in Kerastinase Activity

Poultry industry produces a vast amount of feather waste annually, which forms a burden for environment protection.However, feathers are valuable bio-resources with high keratinaceous protein content and can be converted into more valuable materials through some approaches such as biodegradation by microorganism-derived keratinases. The characters of keratinases in microorganisms remain largely undetermined. In this study,it is reported that the morphological change of cell surface and the activities of intracellular and extracellular keratinases in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia( S. maltophilia) DHHJ. S. maltophilia DHHJ was cultured on lysogeny broth( LB) and feather broth(FB) through fermenter technology,and ultrastructure of cell and keratinase activity including extracellular and intracellular enzyme were observed respectively. Ultrastructural change on the cell surface was only observed for the bacteria cultured on FB medium,but not on LB,suggesting that the change could be induced by feather keratin. Therefore, the results showed that extracellular keratinase is a kind of induction enzyme while intracellular keratinase is a kind of constitute enzyme in S. maltophilia DHHJ.

Screening for a new Streptomyces strain capable of efficient keratin degradation

Keratinous wastes could be degraded by some microorganisms in nature. Native human foot skin （NHFS） was used as sole nitrogen source to screen microorganisms with keratin-degrading capability. From approximately 200 strains, a strain of Streptomyces sp. strain No. 16 was found to possess the strongest keratinolytic activity, and the total activity in the culture was 110 KU/ml with specific activity of 2870 KU/mg protein （KU： keratinase unit）. Substrate specificity test indicated that the crude keratinase could degrade keratin azure, human hair, cock feathers and collagen. The optimal pH of the crude keratinase ranged from 7.5 to 10 and the temperature ranged from 40℃ to 55℃. Metal chelating agent ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid obviously stimulated the keratinolytic activity but suppressed the proteolytic activity. To our knowledge, this is the first report on specific induction of keratinases by NHFS from an actinomycete. Moreover, excellent characteristics of its crude keratinase may lead to the potential application in waste treatment and recovery, poultry and leather industry, medicine, and cosmetic development.

Distribution and Prevalence of Dermatophytes in Semi-Arid Region of India

Earth has been documented as a natural territory for fungi which cover individual kingdom with evolution. In subsequently vertebrates developed keratin which was a part of life as a structural aspect. Few moulds have skilled to digest keratin and crop up from soil and wastewater habitats. They take part as a keratinolytic agent in the purification of α-keratins with an incidence of disulphide and hydrogen bonds which are improperly biodegradable. The best moulds genera to decay of keratin are Microsporum, Trichophyton and Epidermophyton. The presences of these genera are open health issues in developing countries where they cause the mortal mycotic contagion. The reason behind this is perceived to be the poor hygienic environment and socioeconomic behaviour among people. The present review is a compilation of updated information concerning the nature of these keratinolytic moulds and abundances of most contributed developing countries including India.

Biological treatment of chicken feather waste for improved biogas production

A two-stage system was developed which combines the biological degradation of keratin-rich waste with the production of biogas. Chicken feather waste was treated biologically with a recombinant Bacillus megaterium strain showing keratinase activity prior to biogas production. Chopped, autoclaved chicken feathers （4%, W/V） were completely degraded, resulting in a yellowish fermentation broth with a level of 0.51 mg/mL soluble proteins after 8 days of cultivation of the recombinant strain. During the subsequent anaerobic batch digestion experiments, methane production of 0.35 Nm3/kg dry feathers （i.e., 0.4 Nm3/kg volatile solids of feathers）, corresponding to 80% of the theoretical value on proteins, was achieved from the feather hydrolyzates, independently of the pre- hydrolysis time period of 1, 2 or 8 days. Cultivation with a native keratinase producing strain, Bacillus licheniformis resulted in only 0.25 mg/mL soluble proteins in the feather hydrolyzate, which then was digested achieving a maximum accumulated methane production of 0.31 Nm3/kg dry feathers. Feather hydrolyzates treated with the wild type B. megaterium produced 0.21 Nm3 CH4/kg dry feathers as maximum yield.