An efficient keratinolytic strain of Stenorophomonas maltophilia KB13 was isolated from feather disposal site of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India. The strain could metabolize 10 g/l chicken feathers as sole source of carbon and nitrogen. Soluble protein, amino acid, and cysteine content were found to be maximum (690.6 ± 8.7, 688.9 ± 9.12 and 21 ± 0.36 µg/ml, respectively) at late logarithmic phase...

Microbial degradation of keratinous wastes is preferred over physicochemical methods as the latter is costlier and not eco-friendly. Novel habitats are promising for discovery of new microbial strains. Towards discovery of novel keratinolytic bacteria, screening of bacterial strains from a novel limestone habitat in Hundung, Manipur, India was done and a promising isolate, MBRL 575, was found t...

conclusions: the obtained results prove that keratinolytic potential of both tested bacterial strains could be applied mainly in biodegradation of feathers, however, b. cereus and b. polymyxa differed in terms of keratinase and protease production on each of the substrates. biodegradation of highly resilient structures like hair or pig bristle requires further analysis of process conditions. re...