Studies regarding cellulolytic enzymes production by bacterial strains isolated from natural environments, grown in liquid media with raw and pretreated sawdust

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable polymer on Earth, and represents the raw material for a large variety of products. It also has a high resistance at degradation, which has led to an increase in research focused on efficient hydrolysis of this material. For obtaining soluble sugars, one of the most valuable products, an enzymatic hydrolysis, a chemical one or both can be employed. In our study, we isolated a number of bacterial strains with cellulolytic abilities from different natural environments, which were then grown in liquid media containing sawdust. We show how the rates of enzymatic hydrolysis are influenced by a prior, acid pretreatment of the lignocellulosic material