Vol. 11, Issue 12 (2022)

Author(s):
BP Bahatkar, SJ Gahukar, AA Akhare, DR Rathod, AM Charpe and YV Ingle

Abstract:
Microbial utilization of cellulose is the key factor for the utmost material flow in the biosphere. Despite this vast number of cellulase producers, there is a deficiency of microorganisms that can produce significant amount of the cellulase enzyme to efficiently degrade cellulose to fermentable products. Little emphasis has been given to cellulase production from bacteria despite their extremely high natural diversity, which endows them with the capability to produce stable enzymes. The present study aimed at the isolation, screening and identification of cellulose degrading bacteria isolated from different samples like soil, wood logs, forest liters and forest. Total 20 bacterial cultures were isolated through serial dilutions and spread plate method in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar media. To indicate the cellulase activity of the bacterial isolates, diameter of clear zone around the colony and hydrolytic value on Congo red agar media were measured. CDB 12 and CDB 09 exhibited the maximum zone of clearance around the colony with the hydrolytic value of 4.4 and 3.75 respectively. The cultures were also further tested for their capacity to degrade filter paper by using filter paper strip method. The maximum filter paper degradation percentage was estimated to be 21.33% for CDB 12. Total 9 isolates were selected on the basis of primary and secondary screening, which were then identified morphologically and biochemically by performing different biochemical tests and Gram staining test.