SCREENING FOR KERATINOLITIC MICROORGANISMS OF THE GENUS BACILLUS

Abstract

Keratin waste is becoming an increasingly serious environmental and health hazard. Keratin waste is mainly composed of keratin protein, which is one of the most difficult polymers in nature to degrade and is resistant to many physical, chemical and biological factors. Since physical and chemical methods are environmentally harmful and expensive, the degradation of keratin using microbial keratinase enzymes is of great importance, as this method is environmentally friendly and economically effective. The aim of this study is to screen bacteria with high keratinolytic activity for the utilization of complex organic waste from poultry farms. In this study, bacteria of the genus Bacillus were screened for keratinolytic activity. As a result of the screening, strains with maximum enzymatic activity against keratin were selected.