
Asian Journal of Science and Applied Technology (AJSAT)
Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Extracellular Keratinase from Xanthomonas sp.: A Potential Approach in Feather Waste Management
Author : Payel Sarkar, Espita Dutta, Payel Sen and Rohan BanerjeeVolume 1 No.1 January-June 2012 pp 37-46
Abstract
The poultry processing industry produces approx 8.5 billion tons of feathers as by product peryear worldwide. According to Asian Network for Scientific Information India’s contributioalone is 350 million tons in 2010. This has become a part of solid waste management since it is tough to degrade feathers due to highly rigid structure rendered by extensive disulfide bonds andcross-linkages. In this present study, out of the isolated fifteen different keratinase producing bacterial stains, three isolates (belonged to the genera Xanthomonas) were selected to determine degradation of feathers. Complete degradation of 20g/L feather was achieved in just 5 days without any foul smell. Keratinase activity of 536.66 U/ml was noted after 48 hours incubation. Keratinase produced by Xanthomonas was isolated and purified using carboxymethyl cellulose ion–exchange and Sephadex G-75 gel chromatographies. The specific activity of the purified keratinase relative to that in original medium was approximately 86.9 fold. SDS-PAGE analysis and Sephadex G-75 chromatography indicated that the purified keratinase is monomeric and has a molecular mass of 31kDa. Under standard assay condition, the temperature and pH optimum of keratinase was 45°C and 9. Thus, this novel Xanthomonas strain can act as a potential tool to solve the feather waste pollution in short time span. The purified alkaline keratinase hasmultitude of applications in various industries.
Keywords
Xanthomonas, Keratinase, Degradation, Feather, Waste Management