• Mycobiology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.209-213
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• 2003

Aspergillus flavus K-03 isolated from poultry forming soil in Korea was studied for its ability to produce extracellular proteases on basal medium containing 2%(w/v) chicken feathers. The fungus was observed to be a potent producer of such enzymes. Keratinolytic enzyme secretion was the best at 15 days of incubation period at pH 9 and temperature $40^{\circ}C$. No relationship existed between the enzyme yield and increase of biomass. Enzyme production was suppressed by exogenous sugars in descending order arabinose>maltose>mannose>fructose. But glucose did not influence the enzyme activity. The keratinolytic enzyme released by the fungus demonstrated the ability to decompose keratin substrates as chicken feather when exogenous glucose was present. The keratinolytic activity was inhibited by $HgCl_2$ and serine-protease inhibitors such as phenymethylsulfonyl fluoride(100%), chymostain(88%), crystalline soybean trypsin inhibtor(80%), antipain(45%) and aprotinin(40%), and was not by cystein-protease and aspartyl-protease inhibitors. The enzyme activity is only partially inhibited by metallo-protease inhibitor. Thus, the enzyme secreted by A. flavus K-03 belongs to the alkaline serine-type protease.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1337-1343
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to isolate chicken feather-degrading bacteria with high keratinolytic activity and to investigate cultural conditions affecting keratinolytic enzyme production by a selected isolate. A chicken feather-degrading bacterial strain CH3 was isolated from poultry wastes. Isolate CH3 degraded whole chicken feather completely within 3 days. On the basis of phenotypical and 16S rDNA studies, isolate CH3 was identified as Bacillus thuringiensis CH3. This strain is the first B. thuringiensis described as a feather degrader. The bacterium grew with an optimum at pH 8.0 and $37^{\circ}C$, where maximum keratinolytic activity was also observed. The composition of optimal medium for keratinolytic enzyme production was feather 0.1%, sucrose 0.7%, casein 0.3%, $K_2HPO_4$ 0.03%, $KH_2PO_4$ 0.04%, $MgCl_2$ 0.01% and NaCl 0.05%, respectively. The keratinolytic enzyme had a pH and temperature optima 9.0 and $45^{\circ}C$, respectively. The keratinolytic activity was inhibited ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and metal ions like $Hg^{2+},\;Cu^{2+}\;and\;Zn^{2+}$. The enzyme activated by $Fe^{2+}$, dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 2003

A keratinolytic protease was purified from the culture medium of Pseudomonas sp. KP-364 by use of an assay of the hydrolysis of feather keratin. Membrane ultrafiltration and DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange resin and Sephadex G-150 gel chromatographies were used to purify the enzyme. The specific activity of the purified keratinolytic protease relative to that in the original medium was approximately 72-fold high. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-150 chromatography indicated that the purified keratinolytic protease is monomeric and has a molecular weight of 36 kDa. The optimal pH and temperature of the keratinolytic protease activity were 6.6 and 37 C, respectively, and the keratinolytic protease was relatively stable at pH value from 3.0 to 10.0 at 37 C for 1hour. The keratinolytic protease was inhibited by EDTA and EGTA, indicating that the keratinolytic protease was a kind of metalloprotease that require Li+ for cofactor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.472-476
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• 2005

The present study was untaken to assess the capacity of Bacillus pumilis KHS-1 to grow on chicken flour and to prepare feather digest as fertilizer. To increase keratinolytic activity, the addition of cysteine (5.0 mM) showed the highest keratinolytic activity (245 unit) among the reducing agents tested. The production of soluble protein (feather digests) paralleled the tendency to the production of keratinolytic protease. In the growth curve of B. pumilis KHS-1 at $30^{\circ}C$ in the feather medium with 5 mM cysteine, the maximum keratinolytic activity of B. pumilis was about 161 units/ml after 84 h of incubation. The maximum enzyme activities were observed at the late logarithmic growth phase, and remained thereafter with little changes. Using 27-day plant growth assays on carrot and Chinese cabbage, feather digests and reference fertilizer were compared. In terms of the length and the weight of the above-ground vegetations, feather digests showed the same effect as that of the fertilizer. Therefore, our investigation shows that the feather digests can be used in agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the possibility to utilize feather meal by bacterial strains. A bacterial strain SE-103 producing keratinolytic enzyme was isolated from the soil of the poultry slaughterhouses. It was identified as Bacillus sp. by judging from its morphological and physiological characteristics. Subsequently the optimal culture conditions for the production of keratinolytic protease by Bacillus sp. SE-103 were investigated. The composition of optimal medium was 3.0% glucose, 0.4% urea, 0.2% $NaNO_3$, and 0.15% KCl. In addition, optimal initial pH and temperature were 6.0 and $35^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Mycobiology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.219-225
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• 2007

A keratinolytic enzyme secreted by Aspergillus flavus K-03 cultured in feather meal basal medium (FMBM) containing 2% (w/v) chicken feather was purified and characterized. Keratinolytic enzyme secretion was the maximal at day 16 of the incubation period at pH 8 and $28^{\circ}C$. No relationship was detected between enzyme yield and increase of fungal biomass. The fraction obtained at 80% ammonium sulfate saturation showed 2.39-fold purification and was further purified by gel filtration in Sephadex G-100 followed by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-50, yielding an active protein peak showing 11.53-fold purification. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and zymograms indicated that the purified keratinase is a monomeric enzyme with 31 kDa molecular weight. The extracellular keratinase of A. flavus was active in a board range of pH ($7{\sim}10$) and temperature ($30^{\circ}C{\sim}70^{\circ}C$) profiles with the optimal for keratinase activity at pH 8 and $45^{\circ}C$. The keratinase activity was totally inhibited by protease inhibitors such as phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), iodoacetic acid, and ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) while no reduction of activity by the addition of dithiothreitol (DTT) was observed. N-terminal amino acid sequences were up to 80% homologous with the fungal subtilisins produced by Fusarium culmorum. Therefore, on the basis of these characteristics, the keratinase of A. flavus K-03 is determined to be subtilisins-like.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2006

Feather, generated in large quantities as a byproduct of commercial poultry processing, is almost pure keratin, which is not easily degradable by common professes. Four strains, SMMJ-2, FL-3, NO-4 and RM-12 were isolated from soil for production of extracellular keratinolytic protease. They were identified as Bacillus sp. based on their morphological and physiological characteristics. They shown high protease activity on 5.0% skim milk agar medium and produced a substrate like mucoid on keratin agar medium. Bacillus sp. SMMJ-2 had a faster production time for producing keratinolytic protease than other strains. This strain did not completely degrade whole chicken feather for five days in basal medium but completely degraded whole chicken feather when supplied with nitrogen source for 40hours in keratinolytic producing medium ($0.7%\;K_{2}HPO_{4},\;0.2%\;KH_{2}PO_{4},\;0.1%$ fructose, 1.2% whole chicken feather, $0.01%\;Na_{2}CO_3$, pH 7.0). When supplied with chicken feather as nitrogen source, keratinolytic protease activity was 89 units/ml/min. When soybean meal was used as nitrogen source, the keratinolytic protease production reached a maximum of 106 units/ml/min after 48 hours under $30^{\circ}C$, 180 agitation. To isolate the keratinolytic protease, the culture filtrate was precipitated with $(NH_4)_{2}SO_4$ and acetone. The recovery rate of keratinolytic protease was about 96% after treatment with 50% acetone. The enzyme was stable in the range of $30{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ and pH $6.0{\sim}12.0$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1133-1139
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• 2013

Enzymatic decomposition of gelatin layers on used X-ray films and repeated utilization of the enzyme for potential application in silver recovery were investigated using keratinolytic serine proteases from Purpureocillium lilacinum LPS # 876. At pH 9.0, the enzymatic reaction was enhanced by the increase of enzyme concentration or by the increase of the temperature up to $60^{\circ}C$. Under the conditions of 6.9 U/ml, $60^{\circ}C$, and pH 9.0, hydrolysis of the gelatin layers and the resulting release of silver particles were achieved within 6 min. The protective effect of polyols against thermal denaturation was investigated. The presence of glycerol and propylene glycol increased enzyme stability. When the reusability of the enzyme for gelatin hydrolysis was tested, it could be seen that it could be effectively reused for more cycles when glycerol was added, compared with the enzyme without protective agents. The results of these repeated treatments suggested that a continuous process of recycling silver from used X-ray is feasible. Keeping in mind that recycling is (at the present time) needed and imperative, it can be remarked that, in this research, three wastes were successfully used: hair waste in order to produce serine proteases; glycerol in order to enhance enzyme thermal stability; and used X-ray films in order to recover silver and PET films.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.818-825
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• 2012

Keratinases are exciting keratin-degrading enzymes; however, there have been relatively few studies on their immobilization. A keratinolytic protease from Chryseobacterium sp. kr6 was purified and its partial sequence determined using mass spectrometry. No significant homology to other microbial peptides in the NCBI database was observed. Certain parameters for immobilization of the purified keratinase on chitosan beads were investigated. The production of the chitosan beads was optimized using factorial design and surface response techniques. The optimum chitosan bead production for protease immobilization was a 20 g/l chitosan solution in acetic acid [1.5% (v/v)], glutaraldehyde ranging from 34 g to 56 g/l, and an activation time between 6 and 10 h. Under these conditions, above 80% of the enzyme was immobilized on the support. The behavior of the keratinase loading on the chitosan beads surface was well described using the Langmuir model. The maximum capacity of the support ($q_m$) and dissociation constant ($K_d$) were estimated as 58.8 U/g and 0.245 U/ml, respectively. The thermal stability of the immobilized enzyme was also improved around 2-fold, when compared with that of the free enzyme, after 30 min at $65^{\circ}C$. In addition, the activity of the immobilized enzyme remained at 63.4% after it was reused five times. Thus, the immobilized enzyme exhibited an improved thermal stability and remained active after several uses.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.303-309
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• 2012

Keratinases are of particular interest because of their action on insoluble keratins and generally on a broad range of protein substrates. Alkalophilic and neutrophilic actinomycete strains isolated from different soil samples, rich in keratinaceous substances were screened for keratinolytic activity. An alkalophilic isolate, TBG-S13A5, was found to possess good keratinolytic activity and was able to utilize feather as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. TBG-S13A5 exhibited an off-white aerial mass color with a rectus-flexibilis type of spore chain. The morphological, microscopical and biochemical characters were comparable with that of Streptomyces albidoflavus. Fatty acid methyl ester profiling (FAME) and 16S rDNA sequence analysis confirmed its identity as a strain of S. albidoflavus. Under submerged fermentation conditions, maximum protease production was recorded on the $5^{th}$ day of incubation at $30^{\circ}C$, using basal broth of pH 9.0 with 0.25% (w/v) white chicken feather. This strain could affect feather degradation when the initial pH was 8 and above and maximum protease production was recorded when the initial pH was around 10.5. The effectiveness of the crude enzyme in destaining and leather dehairing were also demonstrated.