New micromycetes strains with keratinolytic activity

Abstract. The ability of the micromycete Tolypocladium inflatum to synthesize keratinolytic enzymes has been demonstrated for the first time. 22 strains of micromycetes isolated from enrichment cultures of keratinolytic microorganisms belonged to the genera Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Keratinophyton, Penicillium, Pseudallscheria, Tolypocladium and Trichoderma. Only two strains showed high keratinolytic activity during submerged fermentation – Keratinophyton terreum C106 (74.2 E) and Tolypocladium inflatum ST1 (87.1 E). The target activity of K. terreum C106 in submerged culture decreased almost to zero by the 7th day of cultivation, while the activity of T. inflatum ST1 decreased by less than 20%. An extracellular protease with keratinolytic activity from the micromycete T. inflatum ST1 with a pI of about 5.6 and a molecular weight of about 31 kDa was isolated.