Isolation and Identification of a Keratinolytic Bacillus cereus and Optimization of Keratinase Production

A keratin-degrading bacterium was selected from a bacterial collection of the Najm Biotech Company. Molecular identification indicated that the bacterium is a strain of Bacillus cereus, which can grow and produce keratinase in basal medium containing feather as sole source of carbon and energy. The physicochemical condition (pH, temperature, incubation time, feather concentration) of keratinase production of the isolated B.cereus strain was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). A maximum keratinase production of 350 U/ml was achieved in 96 h under optimized conditions.