Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy

Gliomastix indicus MTCC 3869, a novel fungus, isolated from wasteland soil sample and has never been exploited for production of industrial enzyme. Therefore in the present study, we have exploited the potential of G. indicus for cellulase production and optimize the physiochemical and nutritional parameters to maximize the cellulase production from the G. indicus under submerged fermentation conditions. The culture medium A was found to produce maximum cellulase activity (20.6 U/ml) among the four (A,B,C,D) tested media. The suitable temperature and pH of the production medium was found to be 30°C and 7.0 respectively. Among the various carbon tested, rice bran (1%) was proved to be the best carbon source. Among organic nitrogen sources, malt extract yielded maximum enzyme production whereas, inorganic nitrogenous sources did not support enzyme production. The metal ions such as Ca⁺² increased the enzyme production. The crude cellulase was found to be optimally active at pH 6.0, exhibiting pH stability at pH 6.0 for 60 min. The optimum temperature for cellulase was found to be 30°C retaining 90% activity for 60 min. Among the additives, CaCl₂ had stimulating effect on cellulase activity while heavy metals were inhibitory. Tween-80, TritonX-100, β-mercaptoethanol, SDS and EDTA increased the enzyme activity whereas Tween-20 had inhibitory effect.