Poultry farms produce huge quantities of feather waste that causes serious local disposal and accumulative problems and results in environmental pollution. Feathers are composed of β-keratin rich protein and are highly resistant to degradation. The feather degradation potential of the non-pathogenic fungus Onygena corvina was investigated by cultivating this fungus in a medium with duck feather...

Head hairs from a 19-year-old female murder victim, who had been buried for 36 years, were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmitted light microscopy. The hairs exhibited a range of biodeterioration artifacts. In some areas on the hairs, the cuticular scales were intact; in others, scales had become loosened; and in yet other areas, scales had been completely lost, exposing...

The Actinomycetes comprise a ubiquitous order of bacteria which exhibits wide physiological and morphological diversity. These microorganisms are particularly abundant in alkaline soils rich in organic matter. Keratin is an insoluble structural protein of skin, and its derivatives (e.g. feather, hair, wool and horn) are known for their high stability. Actinomycetes producing keratinases are hav...

Keratinases are exciting keratin-degrading enzymes; however, there have been relatively few studies on their immobilization. A keratinolytic protease from Chryseobacterium sp. kr6 was purified and its partial sequence determined using mass spectrometry. No significant homology to other microbial peptides in the NCBI database was observed. Certain parameters for immobilization of the purified ke...

Introduction Keratins are the most abundant proteins in epithelial cells of vertebrates and represent the major constituents of skin and its appendages such as nail, hair, feather, and wool1. Keratins are fibrous and insoluble structural proteins extensively cross-linked with disulphide, hydrophobic, and hydrogen bonds2-3. Their high degree of cross-linking by disulfide bonds, hydrophobic inter...

In black feathers, melanin is embedded in keratin matrix that makes feather more resistance to the microbial degradation. Chryseobacterium sp. RBT previously isolated from the poultry waste disposable site revealed strong sulfitolytic and keratinolytic activities. Maximum keratinase activity was observed at 48 h (89.12 U ml-1) showed 83 % of native black feather degradation. The concentration o...