Elucidating the cellulolytic potential of a locally Isolated common mould, C<i>ladosporium tenuissimum, </i>by optimizing its cellulase production

Cellulase is a complex of multiple enzymes that includes β-1,4 endoglucanase, β-1,4 exoglucanase, and β-glucosidase, all of which are recognized for breaking down cellulose into glucose monomers. Cellulolytic fungi play a crucial role in the biodegradation of cellulosic biomass by secreting extracellular cellulases. In the present study, soil samples were collected from various ecological niches of VNMKV Campus, Parbhani, Maharashtra (India). A total of 23 fungal isolates obtained after serial dilution were screened to assess their cellulolytic potentials. Qualitative screening using Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and esculin plate assays demonstrated weak cellulolytic activity in other isolates and a strong positive reaction in a single fungal isolate, which was considered the most potent and selected for optimization studies. Optimization studies clearly indicated that there is a significant impact of temperature, pH and incubation period on cellulase production as maximum amount of cellulase enzyme was obtained at 30°C temperature (endoglucanase 147.60±0.1 IU/ml, exoglucanase 74.24±0.02 IU/ml and β glucosidase 80.65±0.2IU/ml) at pH 7 (endoglucanase 140.35±0.07 IU/ml, exoglucanase 66.64±0.1 IU/ml and β glucosidase 80.40±0.06 IU/ml)and day 5 incubation period (endoglucanase 143.90±0.1 IU/ml, exoglucanase 68.13±0.06 IU/ml and β glucosidase76.22±0.01 IU/ml) respectively. The isolate exhibited 99.43% homology with the Cladosporium tenuissimum strain, and the sequence was deposited in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)GenBank under accession number PV687687. The identified fungal strain holds potential for cellulase enzyme production and may be applied in diverse biotechnological processes, such as lignocellulosic biomass degradation, bioremediation and bioethanol production.