Detection of the Keratinolytic Activity of Agriculture and Mount Barker Strain Dermatophilus congolensis Serine Proteases.

Keratinolytic actlvlty has bl!en quantified in Dermatophilus congolensis (D.congolensis ). In this study we tried to determine if there was keratinase within serine proteases from Agriculture (Ag) and Mount barker (MB) strains of D.congolensis. Therefore, keratinolytic activitil!s of thcse strains were tested in the presence of Azocasein and Keratine-azure. The keratinolytic activity of papain, subtilisin and proteinase k have also been tl!sted. The results suggest that the keratinase was absent in the serine protease preparations from Ag and MB strains. The keratinase may have been lost in the concentration of the enzyme preparations. Alternatively, the keratinase may need to be induced by the presence of keratin in the culture medium. Therefore, it seems that there is not an agreement of keratinolytic activity of Ag and MB strains of D.congolensis.