Pillai Priya, Archana G
Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology Centre, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara 390002 Gujarat, India.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2008 Mar;78(4):643-50. doi: 10.1007/s00253-008-1355-z. Epub 2008 Feb 9.
Keratinases play an important role in biotechnological applications such as improvement of feather meal, enzymatic dehairing and production of amino acids or peptides from high molecular weight substrates. Bacillus subtilis P13, isolated from Vajreshwari hot spring (45-50 degrees C) near Mumbai, India, produces a neutral serine protease and has an optimum temperature of 65 degrees C. This enzyme preparation was keratinolytic in nature and could disintegrate whole chicken feathers, except for the remnants of shafts. The enzyme preparation also exhibited depilation of goat hides with the recovery of intact animal hair. The enzyme preparation could release peptides from ground feathers and bring about their weight reduction; however, similar action on hair was relatively weak. A single major PMSF-sensitive protease band could be detected upon zymogram analysis, indicating that a single enzyme may be responsible for feather degradation and hide depilation. The importance of these findings in the biotechnological application for feather and leather industries is discussed.
角蛋白酶在生物技术应用中发挥着重要作用，如改善羽毛粉、酶法脱毛以及从高分子量底物生产氨基酸或肽。从印度孟买附近的瓦杰雷什瓦里温泉（45 - 50摄氏度）分离出的枯草芽孢杆菌P13能产生一种中性丝氨酸蛋白酶，其最适温度为65摄氏度。这种酶制剂本质上具有角蛋白分解能力，除了羽轴残余部分外，能分解整根鸡毛。该酶制剂还能使山羊皮脱毛，同时回收完整的动物毛发。该酶制剂能从磨碎的羽毛中释放肽并使其重量减轻；然而，对毛发的类似作用相对较弱。在酶谱分析中可检测到一条主要的对苯甲基磺酰氟（PMSF）敏感的蛋白酶带，表明可能是单一酶负责羽毛降解和皮革脱毛。本文讨论了这些发现对羽毛和皮革工业生物技术应用的重要性。
