EXPLORING AND OPTIMIZING THE TERMITE HILL BACTERIALDIVERSITY FOR CELLULASE PRODUCTIONSanthoshkumar Subramaniam, Gomathi Velu and Kavitha Mary JacksonAbstract Cellulose is the integral component of lignocellulosic biomass which is found abundantly in nature. Thelignocellulosic bioconversion is an emerging technology which utilizes microbes and their enzymes forserving the scientific community. In this study, about 126 isolates were isolated from the termite moundsoil among which 81 isolates produced cellulase enzyme. Three isolates B12, B25 and B64 exhibited maximumenzyme activity and chosen for optimization parameters such as temperature, pH and incubation time. Theisolates B12, B25 and B64 were identified based on 16S rRNA sequencing as Mesobacillusjeotgali, Lysin ,Bacillusfusiformis and Bacillussp respectively. The temperature, pH and incubation time for maximum cellulaseproduction was optimized from the range and depicted that maximum activity at 40 oC, 7 and 60 hoursrespectively. |