Purification and biochemical characterization of a detergent-stable keratinase from a newly thermophilic actinomycete Actinomadura keratinilytica strain Cpt29 isolated from poultry compost.

An extracellular thermostable keratinase (KERAK-29) was purified and biochemically characterized from a thermophilic actinomycete Actinomadura keratinilytica strain Cpt29 newly isolated from Algerian poultry compost. The isolate exhibited high keratinase production when grown in chicken feather meal media (24,000 U/ml). Based on matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) analysis, the purified enzyme is a monomer with a molecular mass of 29,233.