Published Paper Details:

Keratinophilic fungi are ecologically important eukaryotic organisms that are known to play a diverse role in ecosystem stability and functioning. Some Keratinophilic fungi are pathogenic and have the ability to invade keratinized tissues of human being and animals to produce infection, dermatomycosis. Keratinophilic fungi produce the keratinase enzyme which degrade the most stable protein known as keratin on the earth. Keratin is a long, strong, strand-like protein that are insoluble in water naturally present in hair, nails, feathers, wool, hooves and hides. In nature millions of tons of keratin waste discarded from the poultry, meat, leather and textile industries that can lead environment pollution. Over the last decades, many researchers had reported and isolated keratinophilic fungi. These specialized keratin-degrading fungi adapt to varied environmental conditions such as soil and other dermatophytic substrates. These fungal group degrade keratin waste which can used for purposes such as nutrition in animal feed or fertilizers, medicines and cosmetics. The hair baiting technique is known to culture and isolate keratinophilic fungi in a much simpler and economically cheaper way. This article summarizes the hair baiting technique given by Vanbreuseghem and modified keratin-baiting technique to isolate and identify the fungi known for keratin degradation. Additionally, the important steps and ecological role of keratinophilic fungi in soil have also been discussed. It is believed that this specialized functional group of fungi will play a major role in ecosystem stability, functioning, and recycling for the future resources. This review also gives new shape to a special field of study medical mycology with various skin infections.