Isolation, Screening, and Evaluation of Cellulase-Producing Bacteria from the Soil of Similipal Biosphere Reserve for Biofuel Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Abstract

Lignocellulose is found in nature as an alternative source of energy and can be used for the production of bioethanol. Cellulose, one of the most abundant components of lignocellulose can be hydrolyzed using enzymes cellulase to produce glucose, which can be used for the production of ethanol. Cellulase production from cellulolytic bacteria is challenging. Hence, research has been focused on isolation and identification of efficient cellulolytic bacteria for their use in bioethanol production. In the present investigation, the most potent screened bacterial strain was subjected to optimization of its cellulase production by using response surface methodology taking four independent variables such as substrate concentration, pH, temperature, and incubation time. The optimization result showed that the bacteria had a maximum production of cellulase enzyme of 617.71 U/mL in an optimized condition at an incubation time of 42 h, pH 9, carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) concentration of 15 gm/L, and temperature of 37.5 °C. The strain, SCB9, was identified as Bacillus albus based on the 16S rRNA sequencing and phylogeny analysis. Overall results from this study indicate that the cellulolytic bacteria SCB9 is a potent candidate for cellulase production, which can be exploited for bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass through adaptation of further appropriate biotechnological approaches.