THE CELLULOYTIC POTENTIALITY OF MICROBES ISOLATED FROM GBOGIDI SAW MILL’S SAWDUST, ILARO, OGUN STATE

The efficient degradation of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic plant materials requires a complex set of extracellular enzymes. The probable identities of the microbes isolated from the sawdust are Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis for bacteria and the fungi include Malassezia globosa, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum. A total of 39.28 x 104 cfu/g (mean values) bacterial colonies were isolated. While Staphylococcus epidermidis recorded a 28.00% frequency of occurrence, Bacillus subtilis recorded almost thrice as much with a value of 71.99% frequency of occurrence. On the other hand, a total of 70.00 x 104 cfu/g (mean values) fungal colonies were isolated. Fusarium oxysporum recorded a mean value of 17.67 x 104 cfu/g. The frequency of occurrence of the fungal isolates is shown in table 6. While Malassezia globosa recorded a 19.04% frequency of occurrence, Aspergillus niger recorded almost thrice as much with a value of 55.71% frequency of occurrence. That of Fusarium oxysporum was 25.24%. All the microbial isolates are cellulase producers. Staphylococcus epidermidis recorded a lower mean value of 17.3mm while Bacillus subtilis recorded a higher mean value of 26.0mm, in terms of zone of hydrolysis. Aspergillus niger recorded the highest mean value of 26.7mm, this was followed by Fusarium oxysporum which recorded a mean value of 15.7mm, while Malassezia globosa recorded the lowest mean value of 7.3mm. More attention and funding should be given to the research of the use of more indigenous micro-organisms with the potential ability to produce heat-stable cellulase en masse, particularly archaea bacteria. 

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