Qualitative Screening of Isolated Cellulolytic Bacteria Using Cost-Effective Agricultural Residue

Cellulases are cellulose hydrolyzing enzymes with a vast number of applications in various industries some of which include food, brewery, textile, pulp and paper industries. Also the extensive research on bioconversion of cellulosic biomass has dramatically increased the demand of cellulases. Indeed, the cost effective method for isolation and screening of cellulolytic microorganism was investigated using cheap agricultural residue. A total of 25 isolates were obtained from various sample sources and screened using wheat bran agar and CMC agar medium. It was observed that wheat bran medium can be used for isolation as well as screening of cellulolytic microorganisms. Among all isolates, only two isolates showed the zone of hydrolysis during plate assay whereas only bacterial isolate PJK 6 was found to produce good titer of cellulase under SSF and SMF both with un optimised conditions.