Screening of keratinase producers from leather

Keratin in its native state is not easily degraded even by other proteolytic enzymes and chemical reagents due to the composition and molecular configuration of constituent amino acids in addition to the disulphide bonds and also its insolubility. The degradation of keratinous material is important medically and agriculturally. They are used as detergent additives to aid in removal protenious stains. Also used to enhance drug delivery and used in bioprocessing of used X-ray or photographic films for silver recovery and leather processing. In present study, keratinase producers were isolated from 50 leather samples. Out of 42 microorganisms isolated, the most efficient bacterial isolate SA1 was used for further study. The isolate was able to produce of 38.7 U/ml keratinase over a wide pH range from 5-9 and from 10-45°C within 48 h. The isolate was also able to produce collagenase, caseinase and gelatinase. Hence, the isolate SA1 can be efficiently used to treat waste in leather industry.