Feather degradation by strains of Bacillus isolated from decomposing feathers

Feather waste is generated in large amounts as a by-product of commercial poultry processing. This residue is almost pure keratin, which is not easily degradable by common proteolytic enzymes. Eight strains of Bacillus, isolated from decomposing feathers were tested for the hydrolysis of feather wastes in the laboratory. Among these strains, Bacillus cereus KB043 was the best feather degrading organism when grown on basal medium containing 1% hen feather as sole source of carbon and nitrogen. It caused 78.16 ± 0.4 % degradation with a significant release of soluble protein (1206.15 ± 14.7 µg mL(-1)) and cysteine (20.63 ± 0.4 µg mL(-1)) in the cultivation fluid. The strain also showed the highest level of keratinase activity (39.10 ± 0.4 U mL(-1)). These data indicates that the Bacillus cereus KB043 could be useful in management of poultry wastes.