EFFECT OF CARBON AND NITROGEN SOURCES ON THE PRODUCTION OF KERATINASE FROM STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Keratinase enzymes are mainly used in dehairing process in leather industry instead of sodium sulphides and these are also used as detergent to remove stains on cloth. The microorganisms producing keratinase were isolated from soil samples collected from a poultry farm. The isolated organism was found to be Staphylococcus aureus which was identified by various biochemical tests. The aim of this study is to use different carbon and nitrogen source to find their effect on the production of keratinase. Among t he carbon sources maltose with 0.045 (μmol/min) activity showed the maximum yield and tryptone with 0.65 (μmol/min) activity showed maximum yield among the nitrogen sources used. This was compared using tyrosine as standard. The protein of interest was pur ified using various procedures and the molecular weight of the protein was identified using SDS PAGE.