A Novel Cellulase from an Endophyte, <i>Penicillium </i>Sp<i>.</i> NFCCI 2862

Abstract

An endophytic fungus identified as <i>Penicillium </i>sp<i>.</i><i> </i>CPF2 (NFCCI 2862) was used to evaluate the activity of its cellulolytic enzymes to degrade pretreated sugarcane bagasse and characterize the cellulase enzymes. Different substrates were evaluated for optimum cellulase production by CPF2. The best activities for FPase (1.2 IU/ml), endocellulase (19 IU/ml), xylanase (40 IU/ml) and β-glucosidase (2.8 IU/ml) with a protein content of 0.86 mg/ml were observed when cellulose (1.5 % w/v) was used in combination with peptone (0.2 % w/v) in the growth medium. Optimum temperature and pH for the extracellular cellulase production were 28°C and 5.5, respectively. Furthermore the hydrolysis performance of <i>Penicillium </i>cellulase was compared with <i>Trichoderma</i><i> reesei</i> cellulase (celluclast). Concentrated filtrate (~20 fold) from the fermented broth of CPF2 was able to bring about > 90 % and >63 % hydrolysis of cellulose and steam exploded bagasse (SEB) respectively at 5 % (w/v) substrate concentration in 24 h which was significantly higher than hydrolysis yield obtained with the commercial enzyme Celluclast.