Bacteria are important for the biodegradation of keratin. Thus, a workflow to isolate keratin-degrading bacteria utilizing an optimized azo-keratin assay was established. Deteriorated feather samples, collected in marine shoreline environments from the intertidal zone, yielded 50 unique bacterial isolates exhibiting keratin degradation when feather meal was supplied as keratin substrate. The majority of isolates, identified by 16S sequencing, belonged to genera previously reported to produce keratinases: Bacillus spp. (42%) and Stenotrophomonas spp. (40%). The remaining 18% represented the genera Alcaligenes, Chryseobacterium, Salinivibrio, Delftia, Stappia, and Microbacterium, genera not previously been associated with keratinase production. The workflow, also applied to 21 Bacilli from our in-house culture collection, additionally revealed four Bacilli with remarkable feather degradation potential. The industrial applicability of their associated keratinases was evaluated and the most active keratinase expressed in E. coli to confirm keratinase expression. Enriched keratinase fractions demonstrated activity up to 75°C and retained viability when stored lyophilized at 20°C for up to 200d.
Keywords: Azo-keratin; Biodegradation; Environmental isolates; Feather meal; Industrial enzymes.
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