Serine protease from Agriculture (Ag) and Mount Barker (MB) strains of Dermatophilos congolensis (D. congolensis ) have been sequenced, and these sequences seemed to suggest keratinolytic activity. Furthermore, keratinolytic activity has been quantified in D. congolensis. In this research we tried to determine if there was keratinase within serine proteases from Ag and MB strains of D. congolensis. Therefore, keratinolytic activities of these strains were tested in the presence of Azocasein and Keratine-azure. Also the keratinolytic activity of papain, subtilisin and proteinase k have been tested. This would seem to 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.

Keywords