Recently, a research team led by Prof. Chen Huayou from the School of Life Sciences of Jiangsu University published a groundbreaking study titled "Three-step surface design of spore-displayed keratinase improved acid tolerance and feather degradation" in the prestigious journal International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (CAS Q1 TOP, a leading journal in applied chemistry). The study addresses the critical bottleneck in replacing fishmeal and soybean meal with feather-based feed—the lack of acid-tolerant keratinase. By employing a novel three-step surface design strategy, the team successfully engineered a spore-displayed keratinase with significantly enhanced acid resistance and feather degradation efficiency. This breakthrough enables high-efficiency conversion of feather meal in both fermented feed and animal gastric environments, offering immense value for the feed industry and environmental sustainability. The paper was published online on December 4, 2024, with Yan Mingchen, a 2022 Master’s student, as the first author, and Prof. Chen Huayou as the corresponding author.

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under the "Green Biomanufacturing" Initiative (Project: Development of Enzymes for Bulk Non-Conventional Feed Resource Utilization, Grant No. 2021YFC2103004).

Full Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141813024089840#f0035