STUDY OF CELLULOSE DEGRADING

BACTERIA AND DTERMIATION OF

THEIR CELLULOLYTIC ACTIVITY.
INTRODUCTION
• constitutes the most abundant, renewable polymer resource available today worldwide. It has been estimated that by
photosynthesis, 1011±10Cellulose 12 tons are synthesized annually in a rather pure form, e.g., in
theseedhairsofthecottonplant,butmostly are combined with lignin and other polysaccharides (so-called hemicelluloses) in the
cell wall of woody plants (Kr‰ssig, 1993). Cellulose is a polymer raw material used for two general purposes. For many centuries
it has served mankind as a construction material, mainly in the form of intact wood and textile fibers such as cotton or flax, or in
the form of paper and board. On the other hand,celluloseisaversatilestartingmaterial for chemical conversions, aiming at the
production of artificial, cellulose-based threads and films as well as a variety of stable cellulose derivatives used in many areas of
industry and domestic life (Klemm et al., 1998a). Empirical knowledge of dying cellulose fibers, of burning wood, of preparing
charcoal, and of the biodegradation of cellulose by rotting was acquired already thousands of years ago. Cellulose occupies a
unique place in the annals of polymers. As early as 1838, Payen recognized cellulose as a definitive substance and coined the
name ™cellulose∫ (Payen, 1838). Cellulose as a precursor for chemical modifications has been used even before its polymeric
nature was recognized and well understood. Milestones on this
• pathway were the discovery of cellulose nitrate (commonly misnamed nitrocellulose) by Schˆnbein (1846), the preparation of
Schweizer's reagent, i.e., a cuprammoniumhydroxidesolutionrepresentingthefirst cellulose solvent (Schweizer, 1856, 1857, 1859)
in 1857, and the synthesis of an organo-soluble cellulose acetate by Sch¸tzenberger in 1865 (Sch¸tzenberger 1865a,b). Partially
functionalized cellulose nitrate mixed with camphor as softener was oneofthefirstpolymericmaterialsusedasa ™plastic∫ and is
well known under the trade name of Celluloid. Cellulose nitrates of higherN-contenthavebeenusedextensively
formilitarypurposes.Today,cellulosenitrate is the only inorganic cellulose ester of commercial interest (Balser et al., 1986a).
Regenerated cellulose filaments were obtained by spinning cellulose dissolved in cuprammonium hydroxide in an aqueous
bath.Byfarthelargestpartofcellulose-based artificial fibers have been manufactured for aboutthelastcenturybytheso-calledviscose
process, invented in 1892 by Cross et al. (1893). This process is practiced today with an output of about 3 million tons annually
worldwide. It makes use of the formation of cellulose xanthogenate, i.e., a water-soluble, less-stable anionic ester, prepared by
reaction of cellulose with aqueous sodium hydroxide and CS2 and its decomposition by spinning in an acid bath. The origin of
cellulose chemistry as a brced back to the fundamental of polymer research can be treated experimental of H.Staudinger in the
1920s on the acetylation and deacetylation of cellulose; these experiments resulted in the concept of polymer-analogous
reactions (Staudinger and Daumiller, 1937). According to this concept, functional groups of macromolecules ± in the case of
cellulose predominantly hydroxyl groups ± can undergo the same kind of reactions as the corresponding low-molecular
compounds. Further, it was observed that the supramolecular structure ofthepolymermayplayanimportantrolein determining
the rate and final degree of conversion, as well as the distribution of the functional groups, which has been well recognized for
cellulose.
Cellulose is a linear polysaccharide of glucose residues with β-1, 4-glycosidic linkages. Abundant availability of cellulose makes it an attractive
raw material for producing many industrially important commodity products. Sadly, much of the cellulosic waste is often disposed of by
biomass burning, which is not restricted to developing countries alone, but is considered a global phenomenon. With the help of cellulolytic
system, cellulose can be converted to glucose which is a multiutility product, in a much cheaper and biologically favourable process.
Cellulolysis is basically the biological process controlled and processed by the enzymes of cellulase system. Cellulase enzyme system comprises
three classes of soluble extracellular enzymes: 1, 4-β-endoglucanase, 1, 4-β-exoglucanase, and β-glucosidase (β-D-glucoside glucohydrolase or
cellobiase). Endoglucanase is responsible for random cleavage of β-1, 4-glycosidic bonds along a cellulose chain. Exoglucanase is necessary for
cleavage of the nonreducing end of a cellulose chain and splitting of the elementary fibrils from
the crystalline cellulose, and β-1, 4-glucosidase hydrolyses cellobiose and water-soluble cellodextrin to glucose [1, 2]. Only the synergy of the
above three enzymes makes the complete cellulose hydrolysis to glucose [3–5] or a thorough mineralization to H2O and CO2 possible. Source
for cellulase system extraction is best suitable from microbial system found in the gut of organisms thriving on cellulosic biomasses as their
major feed. Insects like termites (Isopteran), bookworm (Lepidoptera), and so forth, are found to have syntrophic symbiotic microflora in their
guts responsible for cellulosic feed digestion [6, 7]. Many microorganisms have been reported with cellulosic activities including many
bacterial and fungal strains both aerobicandanaerobic.Chaetomium,FusariumMyrothecium, Trichoderma. Penicillium, Aspergillus, and so
forth, are some of the reported fungal species responsible for cellulosic biomass hydrolysation. Cellulolytic bacterial species include
Trichonympha, Clostridium, Actinomycetes, Bacteroides succinogenes, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Ruminococcus albus, and Methanobrevibacter
ruminantium
Cellulase due to its massive applicability has been used in various industrial processes such as biofuels like bioethanol , triphasic
biomethanation ; agricultural and plant waste management ; chiral separation and ligand binding studies .