Abstract
There are several reports about the optimization of protease production, but only few have optimized the production of organic solvent tolerant keratinolytic proteases that show remarkable exploitation in the development of the non-polluting processes in biotechnological industries. The present study was carried with aim to optimize the production of a thermostable organic solvent tolerant keratinolytic protease Thermoactinomyces sp. RM4 utilizing chicken feathers. Thermoactinomyces sp. RM4 isolated from the soil sample collected from a rice mill wasteyard site near Kashipur, Uttrakhand was identified on the basis of 16S rDNA analysis. The production of organic solvent tolerant keratinolytic protease enzyme by Thermoactinomyces sp. RM4 was optimized by varying physical culture conditions such as pH (10.0), temperature (60°C), inoculum percentage (2%), feather concentration (2%) and agitation rate (2 g) for feather degradation. The result showed that Thermoactinomyces sp. RM4 potentially produces extra-cellular thermostable organic solvent tolerant keratinolytic protease in the culture medium. Further, the feather hydrolysate from keratinase production media showed plant growth promoting activity by producing indole-3-acetic acid itself. The present findings suggest that keratinolytic protease from Thermoactinomyces sp. RM4 offers enormous industrial applications due to its organic solvent tolerant property in peptide synthesis, practical role in feather degradation and potential function in plant growth promoting activity, which might be a superior candidate to keep ecosystem healthy and functional.
Highlights
Enzyme catalyzed processes are attractive over chemical processes involving harsh chemicals due to their wide range of industrial applications and pollution free process
Apart from keratinase production, total soluble protein released in addition to feather degradation was observed during submerged fermentation (SmF) utilizing one variable at a time by employing strategy representing one of a common way for standardizing enzyme production (Gupta and Ramnani, 2006)
Our result shows the optimum pH for feather degradation and keratinase production was in the range of pH 8.0–11.0
Summary
Enzyme catalyzed processes are attractive over chemical processes involving harsh chemicals due to their wide range of industrial applications and pollution free process. Especially proteases constitute an important class of industrial enzymes utilized in various commercial purposes (Verma et al, 2014) Fibrous proteins such as horn, feather, nails and hair are abundantly available in nature as wastes that can be converted to useful biomass, protein concentrate or amino acids using proteases from certain microorganisms (Anwar and Saleemuddin, 1998; Villa et al, 2013). Alternate methods include enzymatic and/or fermentation methods produce feather meal rich in rare amino acids such as cysteine, serine and proline, which can be applied as feed substrate. It can be used in fertilizers, glues, and biodegradable films (Brandelli, 2008). Applications of these enzymes vary widely from food additives, flavors and fragrances to pharmaceuticals, pesticides and specialty polymers
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