Molecular characterization of the keratinophilic fungi isolated from high altitude regions of Kashmir

Abstract

Keratinophilic fungi is an ecologically important group that cycle one of the most abundant and highly stable animal protein on the earth 'Keratin'. The keratin degrading ability of these fungi has been attributed to the production of the extracellular proteases known as keratinases. They have great potential in wool and silk cleaning, leather industry, developing cost effective feather by-products, valorization of the keratin containing wastes, bioremediation and curing skin diseases. In addition, prospective application in prion degradation can revolutionize the protease world in the near future. In the present study, we focussed on the isolation of keratinophilic fungi from the soils of high altitude areas of Kashmir. The sites selected were Khanyar (5173 ft) and Tangmarg (8900 ft). Nineteen isolates of keratinophilic fungi were isolated from these soils by keratin bait technique. These were purified and identified by studying the micro and morphological characters by using relevant literature. Molecular characterization offers more discrimination in fingerprinting an organism and studying its lineage, we thereby relied on PCR based RAPD technique. It is a sensitive and rapid molecular tool for species identification as many fungi do not produce characteristic spores. For molecular characterization, genomic DNA from fungal isolates were isolated and purified. These were then amplified using twenty-one RAPD primers for detecting the polymorphism. PCR products were then separated on the agarose gel. The data was analysed using RAPD-PLOT, PHYLIP and TREE VIEW softwares. Dendrogram generated divided the isolated keratinophiles into three main groups. This data supported the morphological analysis to a noticeable extent.