Isolation and Characterization of Keratinase Producing Bacteria from Feather Dumped Soil

Feather waste produced by poultry farms poses environmental pollution as they contain keratin, a highly stable and insoluble protein that is difficult to degrade naturally. Present study was undertaken to isolate and identify feather-degrading bacterial strains from soil contaminated with poultry feather waste. For this purpose, five different soil samples were collected from poultry farms located in the Parbhani district. Total six bacterial isolates showed ability to degrade feathers, indicating their ability to produce enzyme keratinase, Identification of the most efficient strain was carried out based on biochemical characterization, The isolate was identified as Bacillus species. It showed strong keratin-degrading ability, which was treated as environmental friendly managing feather waste, generated by the poultry industry.