Isolation, identification and screening of potential xylanolytic enzyme from litter degrading fungi

Consortia of litter degrading fungal species were developed from different baiting substrates collected in and around Western ghat forest ecosystem, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. Fifty-three litter degrading fungal species were isolated by nylon litterbag technique. The production of endo-b-1,4-xylanase (1,4-b-D-xylan xylanohydrolase, E.C. 3.2.1.8), b-D-xylosidase (1,4-b-xylan xylanohydrolase, E.C. 3.2.1.37) and protease was studied using oat spelt xylan as carbon source. Results showed that all fifty-three fungal species isolated from various litter samples produced fairly good xylanolytic enzyme activity. The xylanase and b-D-xylosidase activity ranges from 4.41 to 132.20 U and 48.72 to 1510.32 U, respectively. Growth was determined in terms of mycelial dry weight, which ranged between 0.209 and 1.047 mg/ml. The protease enzyme activity was from 19.7 to 60.8 U. This is the first report concerning xylanolytic enzyme production by the litter degrading fungi, isolated from litter samples.