A study on optimization of biomass of Bacillus pumilus for feather degradation

Abstract

Soil samples were collected from the feather dumped area, and they were screened for the presence of keratinolytic bacteria Bacillus pumilus. Based on its growth on Bacillus isolation agar, Skim milk agar, and Starch agar, it was conformed as Bacillus pumilus. The growth of bacteria was estimated by biomass estimation. In the optimization study, the optimum incubation period observed for feather degradation was 48hrs, pH 7, and temperature 40°C. Purified Keratinase enzyme was used for the feather degradation study. The maximum degradation observed was 29% at the temperature of 400C. The size of kerinase produced was estimated as 52KDa.