Induction and Selection of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia DHHJ for Feather Degradation

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia DHHJ, a new feather-degrading bacterium, was subjected to mutation by ultraviolet light for 90 s. The mutant L2 was selected due to its greater activity in comparison with the wild strain. After incubation at 40°C for 6 days, the feathers degraded by mutant L2 were 1.3-fold more than S. maltophilia DHHJ, and the keratinase was secreted. After cultivation for 6 days in 5 L fermenter with 50% air saturation, the rate of feather degradation was 92.3% and the activity of keratinase produced was 8.6 U/mL by mutant L2. The results proved that mutant L2 had high genetic stability and could be possibly used in the industrial processes.