Bioprospecting of Thermostable Xylanases for Lignocellulosic Biomass Conversion

Abstract

Xylanases have grabbed great attention in the recent years because of their application in diverse industrial processes such as paper pulp bleaching, baking, textile and biofuel production. This class of enzymes (E.C.3.2.1.8) is known for its significant role in the degradation of hemicellulose fraction of the lignocellulosic materials. Currently, the bacterial sources are the hotspot of research and their bioprospecting from different places is under exploration. The studies have reported that thermophilic bacteria have more potential to produce a thermostable enzyme, which could be of great importance to hands on in industry. In our study, we collected samples from four different sources i.e. pine forest soil, water sample from hotspring (Vashisht in Himachal Pradesh), mushroom compost and biogas slurry. The samples from the respective sources were primarily enriched followed by screening for the xylanase producing bacteria. One of the potent isolate (PS1) was used for the production of xylanase and its unit activity was quantified using DNS assay. The produced xylanase shows activity at thermophilic range of 50 to 700C.Thermophilic xylanases are in great demand for lignocellulosic conversion at high temperature. In this context optimisation studies were carried out on the explored substrate (wheat straw) regarding the potent isolate and its characteristics were studied.