ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Wafa A. Alshehri1 , Ashjan Khalel2, Khaled Elbanna3,4,Iqbal Ahmad5 and Hussein H. Abulreesh3
1Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
3Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
4Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt.
5Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2021;15(2):681-688 | Article Number: 6913
https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.15.2.17 | © The Author(s). 2021
Received: 01/03/2021 | Accepted: 05/04/2021 | Published: 12/05/2021
Abstract

Plastic materials have become a necessity of human life especially in the packaging of food commodities and biomedical procedures. Bioplastic is emerging as an effective alternative to fossil oil-based materials to avoid the environmental hazards of the plastic industry. During this study, chicken feathers were used as a substrate to isolate keratin degrading bacteria. Among 14 identified isolates, Bacillus sp BAM3 was found to be the most promising isolate. Partial 16S rDNA analysis-based molecular characterization revealed it is a strain of Bacillus cereus. Bacillus sp BAM3 can grow and produce keratinase in feathers containing basal medium as the sole carbon and energy source. The maximum keratinase production (730U/ml) was achieved within 24 h under optimum reaction conditions. The optimized reaction pH and temperature were noted as 9.0 and 50 °C for crude keratinase activity, respectively. The chicken feathers were used as a substrate in 2, 5, and 10 wt% glycerol to synthesize keratin-based bioplastic with keratinolytic bacterium Bacillus cereus BAM3. Bioplastic prepared from keratin with 2% of glycerol was found to possess good mechanical properties. Therefore, the results present a novel keratinolytic isolate of Bacillus cereus BAM3, which may have potential biotechnological applications in keratin hydrolysis processes. The development of keratin-based bioplastics possessing superior crystalline morphology requires further investigations to substitute fossil oil-based materials.

Keywords

Bacillus cereus, bio-plastic, keratinolytic bacteria, feather

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