A study on keratinase producing bacteria and methods used for optimization of enzyme production / Mohab Mohamed Anwar Shalaby ; Supervised Mohammed Abdelhaleem Ramadan , Reham Samir Mohamed , Fatma Alzahraa M. Gomaa

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Pharmacy - Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Keratin forms the constructing component of various elements (such as: feathers, hair, wool..among others), which represents an environmental challenge owing to its recalcitrance. In nature, degradation of keratin is a partial sluggish process which results in the liberation of toxic sulfurous gases and residues, past solutions were either: mechanical; chemical; or physical treatment, which all were inadequate with immense energy waste and increased environmental toxicity. A bioremediation tool has been suggested as a safer less energy consuming ecofriendly approach based on keratinase which is an inducible enzyme isolated from various organisms with Bacillus species representing the vast source. However detailed inspection of such enzymes and their medicinal applications remains relatively limited. The study was concerned with isolating keratinase producing microorganisms, reaching the maximum capacity of the enzyme by optimizations of various factors, along with testing its medicinal application as an aiding tool in transdermal drug delivery. Fifty isolates tested positive for keratinase production out of the three hundred and fifty environmental samples collected by showing visible degradation of white chicken feathers (WCF) in a basal salt media. Five isolates were chosen for further testing and analysis out of which two isolates (isolates 4 and 60) isolated from soil and sewage water respectively proved to persistently produce the largest quantity of keratinase, the two isolates were identified to be Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis by conventional techniques along with 16S-rRNA sequencingfluoride (PMSF), these findings augment the serine nature of isolated keratinases

Issued also as CD