Leather industries contribute greatly to environmental pollution due to the large quantity of waste generated by chemical processing. The use of biodegradable and cost effective keratinase is a more promising method of biotechnology than the conventional chemical method. Keratinase (E.C 3.4.21-24/99) is an extracellular enzyme belonging to class hydrolases of sub-class proteases, acting on one of the toughest biopolymers, keratin. In this research paper, keratinase-producing bacteria were isolated and screened from the soil of dump sites of keratinous waste, poultry farms, and chicken slaughter-houses locally. A culture bank of 92 keratinase-producers was established, by initially screening and visualizing the zone of hydrolysis on skim milk agar medium, which was subsequently put to submerged fermentation using chicken feathers as a natural inducer of the enzyme. One novel isolate exhibiting maximum keratinase yield was identified as Bacillus tequilensis. The crude enzyme yielded 18.4 units/ml at pH 6.8, temperature 40^oC, and feather meal concentration of 0.5% after an incubation period of 168 hours. This research highlights this enzyme as a promising candidate for the leather and detergent industry.

Index Terms- Feather meal, Fermentation, Keratin, Keratinolytic bacteria, Keratinase-producing bacteria