Degradation of
chicken feather using keratinase enzyme produced by Bacillus thuringiensis SJAMB
and biofertilizing prospective for agriculture practices
Janani S., Akilandeswari P. and Pradeep B.V.
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 20(11); 233-240;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/2011rjbt2330240; (2025)
Abstract
Abundance of keratinase waste is generated from industries and their destruction
can cause much environmental deterioration. Chicken feathers are non-degradable
because of the presence of insoluble protein keratin and resistance to degradation
by common protease enzyme, but several microorganisms are capable of degrading keratin
by the enzyme keratinase. This study was planned to evaluate the production of keratinase
from Bacillus thuringiensis SJAMB isolated from poultry waste for the capability
to disintegrate the chicken feather proficiently. Enzyme activity was analyzed and
the degraded feathers were identified by weight loss. SEM analysis revealed the
variations of the feather keratin during degradation. The crude keratinase was purified
by column chromatography and ammonium salt precipitation and the molecular weight
of protein was examined by SDS-PAGE as 56 kDa. Degraded feather used as biofertilizer
showed good growth of the green gram plant than urea and chemical fertilizer and
this was observed in the day 1 and 13 respectively.
Finally, the chlorophyll content was estimated using UV spectrometer at 663 nm and
345 nm and it was observed that the plant treated with degraded feather showed highest
chlorophyll content of about 2.502 followed by plant treated with the enzyme (2.418)
and urea (2.372) respectively. This study explored the chicken feather degradation
using keratinoltyic bacteria resolving the mechanism of keratin hydrolysis by other
processes and replace the currently used hazardous fertilizers.
