Studies were carried out on the ability of filamentous fungi to degrade keratin based substrates (human hair and
chicken feather) using their keratinase. Soil samples were collected at random from barbers’ landfills in Jos city,
Nigeria and were screened using the hair baiting technique. Proteolytic ability of the fungal isolates was carried
out using skim milk agar. Fungal strains that showed the highest activity following the diameter zones of
clearance were further tested for keratinase activity in submerged fermentation (SmF) using basal mineral
medium supplemented with human hair and chicken feather as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen. A total of 17
fungal species belonging to 10 genera were isolated with Aspergillus species the most dominant. Cladosporium
cladosporioides and Trichoderma viride had the highest potential to hydrolyze skim milk casein with the peak
period of 72h (77.1U/ml and 50.1U/ml) for C. cladosporioides and T. viride, respectively, after which there was a
decline in enzyme production. The keratinase activity of the two species on both human hair and chicken feather
were highly variable. C. cladosporioides and T. viride had keratinase activity of 6.3 U/ml and 37.5 U/ml after
72h and 96h, respectively, on human hair while for chicken feather medium, C. cladosporioides had keratinase
activity of 35.5 U/ml after 96h and T. viride 37.5 U/ml after 72h. The spent medium containing chicken feather
showed higher specific activity for keratinase as compared to the spent human hair medium. It is deduced that
these fungi may have an important role in the degradation of keratin containing wastes in a natural
Studies were carried out on the ability of filamentous fungi to degrade keratin based substrates (human hair andchicken feather) using their keratinase. Soil samples were collected at random from barbers’ landfills in Jos city,Nigeria and were screened using the hair baiting technique. Proteolytic ability of the fungal isolates was carriedout using skim milk agar. Fungal strains that showed the highest activity following the diameter zones ofclearance were further tested for keratinase activity in submerged fermentation (SmF) using basal mineralmedium supplemented with human hair and chicken feather as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen. A total of 17fungal species belonging to 10 genera were isolated with Aspergillus species the most dominant. Cladosporiumcladosporioides and Trichoderma viride had the highest potential to hydrolyze skim milk casein with the peakperiod of 72h (77.1U/ml and 50.1U/ml) for C. cladosporioides and T. viride, respectively, after which there was adecline in enzyme production. The keratinase activity of the two species on both human hair and chicken featherwere highly variable. C. cladosporioides and T. viride had keratinase activity of 6.3 U/ml and 37.5 U/ml after72h and 96h, respectively, on human hair while for chicken feather medium, C. cladosporioides had keratinaseactivity of 35.5 U/ml after 96h and T. viride 37.5 U/ml after 72h. The spent medium containing chicken feathershowed higher specific activity for keratinase as compared to the spent human hair medium. It is deduced thatthese fungi may have an important role in the degradation of keratin containing wastes in a natural
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