Feather degradation by strains of Bacillus isolated from decomposing feathers

Abstract

Feather waste is generated in large amounts as a by-product of commercial poultry processing. This residue is almost pure keratin, which is not easily degradable by common proteolytic enzymes. Eight strains of Bacillus, isolated from decomposing feathers were tested for the hydrolysis of feather wastes in the laboratory. Among these strains, Bacillus cereus KB043 was the best feather degrading organism when grown on basal medium containing 1% hen feather as sole source of carbon and nitrogen. It caused 78.16 ± 0.4 % degradation with a significant release of soluble protein (1206.15 ± 14.7 µg mL-1) and cysteine (20.63 ± 0.4 µg mL-1) in the cultivation fluid. The strain also showed the highest level of keratinase activity (39.10 ± 0.4 U mL-1). These data indicates that the Bacillus cereus KB043 could be useful in management of poultry wastes

Isolation, identification and molecular detection of selected probiotic bacteria from broiler chickens and their related environment

“…We also found maximum of all these species as ellipsoidal, sub terminal, endospore formed, motile and in case of other results not only MR, Catalase, Oxidase, Citrate, ONPG, VP, Indole but also maximum 10% carbohydrate sugar fermentation results are supported by Logan and Berkeley (1984) in where exceptions occurred in Fructose, Raffinose. Our study observation is also supported by Swetlana and Jain (2010). Bacterial identification was conducted based on morphological, physiological and biochemical tests and the results were compared with Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 8th edition (Buchanan and Gibbons, 1974) and The Genus Bacillus: Agriculture Handbook No.…”

Chemical composition and amino acid profile of differently processed feather meal

“…Feathers could account for about 6% of the live weight of the mature chicken. They are rich in a keratinous protein, which is a fibrous and insoluble protein (Swetlana and Jain, 2010). Feathers have uses in erosion control, diaper filling, biodegradable composites, green house industry, animal feeds, upholstery, artwork, paper alternatives, light-weight structural materials, water filtration fibers, fabric, aircraft and automotive industries and thermal insulation (Comis, 1998;Schmidt, 1998).…”

Hydrolyzing Proficiency of Keratinases in Feather Degradation

“…Enzymatic degradation of the feather entails the mutual characteristic actions of two enzymes disulphide reductase and keratinase [8]. Disulphide reductase breaks the disulphide bridges which are responsible for the rigidity of keratin found in feather and keratinase cleaves the hydrogen bonds (hydrolysis) of b-pleated sheet and releases different amino acids (deamination) [9]. We in our lab while working on the production of keratinases have tried to observe the function of keratinase in feather degradation from two newly isolated Bacillus subtilis RSE163 and RSE165 (NCBI Accsession no JQ887983 and JQ887982) at regular interval.…”