Isolation, Identification and Characterization of Feather Degrading Raoultella electrica from Poultry Waste Containing Soil

Poultry industry waste carries a major proportion of feathers, which include particularly Keratin. Keratin is an insoluble, fibrous protein, which makes the feathers proof against proteolytic enzymes. Numerous microbial isolates can carry out the degradation of such complex substrates. This study uses the ability of soil bacteria to degrade feather waste. Among the 112 isolates, 17 of them able to simultaneously hydrolyse skimmed milk and utilize chicken feather as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. On the basis of enzyme assay, isolate 13 was found potent keratinase producers as compared to other isolates; such was expressed to 14.12U/ml of keratinase. Identification of potential keratinolytic isolate through 16S rRNA analysis revealed that it belongs to Raoultella electrica. Due to its potential keratinolytic action, the isolate may serve as a candidate for the management of feather waste and various biotechnological and industrial applications.