Isolation and screening of cellulolytic activity from plastic dumped soils

Microorganisms, especially fungi are the leading producers of an array of industrial enzymes. Microbial cellulases are the enzymes that are sold in large volumes due to their enormous applications in biochemical industry. Selection of the right organism plays a predominant role in high yield of desirable enzymes. Hence an attempt was made in the current study to isolate and screen novel fungi from plastic dumped soil for the optimal production of cellulases. In this study eight fungal cultures were screened, of these three cultures were found to exhibit cellulolytic activity. The most potent isolate which exhibited maximum cellulolytic activity was screened. The activities of cellulases were determined by Filter paper (FPA), Carboxy-methyl cellulase (CMCase) and β-D-glucosidase assays. The total extracellular protein contents of the fungal filtrates and biomass of the fungal cultures were also determined. A significant cellulase production, extracellular protein, fungal biomass was noticed with Cochliobolus sps organism compared to the remaining fungal cultures.