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Influence of the carbon and nitrogen sources on keratinase production by Myrothecium verrucaria in submerged and solid state cultures

  • Original Paper
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Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Myrothecium verrucaria is a nondermatophytic filamentous fungus able to grow and to produce keratinase in submerged (93.0 ± 19 U/ml) and solid state (98.8 ± 7.9 U/ml) cultures in which poultry feather powder (PFP) is the only substrate. The purpose of the present work was to verify how different carbon and nitrogen sources can influence the production of keratinase by this fungus. Addition of carbohydrates, such as glucose and sucrose, caused only slight improvements in keratinase production, but the addition of starch caused a significant improvement (135.0 ± 25 U/ml). The highest levels of keratinase activity, however, were obtained by supplementing the PFP cultures with cassava bagasse, 168.0 ± 28 U/ml and 189.0 ± 26 U/ml in submerged and solid state cultures, respectively. Contrarily, the supplementation of PFP medium with organic or inorganic nitrogen sources, such as casein, soy bean protein, gelatin, ammonium nitrate and alanine, decreased the production of keratinase in both types of cultures (around 20 U/ml), showing that the production of keratinase by M. verrucaria is repressed by nitrogen sources. The results obtained in this work suggest that the association of the two residues PFP plus cassava bagasse could be an excellent option as a cheap culture medium for the production of keratinase in submerged and solid state cultures.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq) and Fundação Araucária. RM Peralta is research fellow of CNPq. FG Moreira-Guillen is a recipient of CAPES Fellowships. We thank A Chaves and MAF Costa for their technical assistances.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, 87020-900, Maringa, PR, Brazil

    Nereida Mello Rosa da Gioppo, Fabiana G. Moreira-Gasparin, Andréa M. Costa, Ana Maria Alexandrino, Cristina Giatti Marques de Souza & Rosane M. Peralta

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  1. Nereida Mello Rosa da Gioppo
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  2. Fabiana G. Moreira-Gasparin
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  3. Andréa M. Costa
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  6. Rosane M. Peralta
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Correspondence to Rosane M. Peralta.

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da Gioppo, N.M.R., Moreira-Gasparin, F.G., Costa, A.M. et al. Influence of the carbon and nitrogen sources on keratinase production by Myrothecium verrucaria in submerged and solid state cultures. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 36, 705–711 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-009-0540-0

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