Abstract

ISOLATION OF KERATINOLYTIC FUNGI FROM SOIL SAMPLES OF POULTRY FARMS

Kavita Sharma*

Abstract

Keratinophilic fungi are those which exhibit affinity to keratin and capable of growing on hair, skin, feathers, or horns etc. Keratinolytic fungi are specialized in decomposition of keratin, being the main component of these substrata. Keratinophillic fungi accompany keratinolytic fungi, utilizing non-protein components of the substrata or the products of keratin decomposition. Environmental factors play an important role in the growth and sporulation of Keratinophilic fungi. The soil represents the main reservoir of fungi and rich in keratinous material is most conducive for the growth and occurrence of keratinophilic fungi. In the present study, the keratinophillic fungal cultures were isolated from soil samples of poultry farm area. The isolation of fungal cultures was performed on Keratin based potato dextrose agar. The total of 20 pure fungal isolates was obtained, out of which 05 showed positive results for keratinase production. The keratinase producers were stained and identified via lacto phenol cotton blue staining. The fungal strains were confirmed as Trichoderma atroviride, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium verticillioides, Alternaria alternata, and Microsporum gypseum. These isolates were maintained in pure form on potato dextrose agar based slants and kept at 40C till further use.

Keywords: Keratinase producing fungi, keratinophillic, keratinolytic, soil samples, poultry farm area.