ISOLATION OF CELLULOSE DEGRADING BACTERIA FROM THE GUT OF THE TERMITE COPTOTERMES GESTROINGUYEN THI PHUONG, NGUYEN THI LE NA AND NGUYEN DINH THANGAbstract Cellulose holds the reputation of the most abundant renewable biomass on the earth. Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is one of the most promising renewable fuel source replacing fossil fuels with the advantage of zero net contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Hence, the bioconversion of cellulose into ethanol plays an important role for sustainable development. Termites, especially Coptotermes gestroi - Asian subterranean termite, considered as the most successful wood-degrading species on the earth, play a significant role in the degradation of cellulosic biomass and in global carbon cycling. This is result of synergistic activity of enzymes secreted by the termites and/or their gut symbiotic protists. In this study, we succeeded in isolating a cellulolytic bacteria strain from the gut of the termite Coptotermes gestroi. The results of morphological and chemical assays for identifying of bacterial isolate were showed that bacterial isolate was Gram negative bacteria, fermenter of carbohydrates (glucose, maltose and mannitol) and positive capacity of catalase, but without ability of starch hydrolysis. The average hydrolysis capacity (HC) value of the bacterial isolate estimated through the screening on Congo red agar media was 4.66. Cellulase enzyme activity of the bacterial isolate on the basis of filter unit was shown as 1.61 FPU/mL. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that bacterial isolate was Acinetobacter sp. Our results suggested that enzyme secreted by this bacteria strain could be a potential source of cellulase enzyme for the development of hydrolysis cellulase for cellulosic biomass and for a further aid of bioconversion of ethanol.
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