ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND DEHAIRING ACTIVITY OF INDONESIAN NATIVE KERATINOLYTIC BACTERIA EXIGUOBACTERIUM SP. DG1

Abstract

The objective of this work was to isolate and identify keratinolytic bacteria from soil containing
sheep hair and sheep tannery waste, which has the potential of removing hair in the tanning process.
The bacterial identifications were conducted using 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. Also the
bacteria were examined using morphological and biochemical studies. To determine the ability of the
enzymes, the study used casein hydrolysis, keratinase, collagenase, and dehairing activity test. The
experimental research was conducted in the laboratory applying a completely randomized design and
was analyzed using Duncan's New Multiple Range Test. The results showed that the isolate number
one has the highest casein hydrolysis (2.88) and keratinolityc activity (2.87 U/ml) but performed the
lowest collagenase activity (0.59 U/ml). This isolate was identified as Exiguobacterium sp. DG1
(LC008359), which has potential use for biotechnological process to remove hair in the leather
tanning process.