%0 Journal Article
%T Screening of Fungi Isolated from Environmental Samples for Xylanase and Cellulase Production
%A Mohammed Inuwa Ja¡¯afaru
%J ISRN Microbiology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/283423
%X The aim of this work is to select filamentous fungal strains isolated from saw dust, soil, and decaying wood with the potential to produce xylanase and cellulase enzymes. A total of 110 fungi were isolated. Fifty-seven (57) of these fungi were isolated from soil samples, 32 from sawdust, and 19 from decaying wood. Trichoderma and Aspergillus had the highest relative occurrence of 42.6% and 40.8%, respectively. Trichoderma viride Fd18 showed the highest specific activity of 1.30£¿U£¿mg£¿1 protein for xylanase, while the highest cellulase activity of 1.23£¿U£¿mg£¿1 was shown by Trichoderma sp. F4. The isolated fungi demonstrated potential for synthesizing the hydrolytic enzymes. 1. Introduction Xylan is a noncrystalline complex polysaccharide consisting of a backbone of -D-1, 4-linked xylopyranoside units substituted with acetyl, glucuronosyl, and arabinosyl side chains [1]. Xylans are the main carbohydrate in the hemicellulosic fraction of vegetable tissues and form an interface between lignin and the other polysaccharides. The polysaccharides are mainly found in secondary plant cell walls, and their characteristic of adhesion helps to maintain the integrity of the cellular wall [2]. Cellulose is a linear polymer of D-glucose units linked by 1, 4- -D-glucosidic bond and is crystalline in nature [3]. Cellulose is the main constituent of plants and thus the most abundant biopolymer on earth comprising approximately 35¨C50% of plant dry weight [4]. Hydrolysis of xylan and cellulose are essential steps towards the efficient utilization of lignocellulosic materials in nature. Lignocellulosic waste forms a large proportion of solid waste in our cities, thus constituting an environmental problem. Studies have shown that conventional waste treatment strategies have failed to ameliorate this problem. The use of microbial enzymes in lignocellulosic waste treatment has been shown to be an alternative that is efficient and cost-effective. Therefore, considering the industrial potentials of xylanases and cellulases, and their potential use in lignocellulolytic waste treatment, it becomes imperative to obtain new enzymes and enzyme-producing microbial strains that produce highly active xylanases and cellulases at low cost. Chemical hydrolysis of lignocellulose is accompanied with the formation of toxic components that are toxic to the environment [5], hence the need to explore the use of microorganisms and their enzymes, which have high specificity, mild reaction conditions, negligible substrate loss, and side product generation and are environmentally friendly [6], in
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.microbiology/2013/283423/