CELLULOLYTIC POTENTIALS OF ASPERGILLUS ORYZAE AND STREPTOMYCES GRISEUS ISOLATED FROM WASTE DUMP SOIL IN NILE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, ABUJA

Abstract

The potential of using microorganisms as biological sources of industrially economic enzymes has stimulated interest in the exploitation of extracellular enzymatic activity in several microorganisms. The aim of this research is to assess the cellulose degrading potentials of two microorganisms, Aspergillus oryzae and Streptomyces griseus using cellulose Congo red agar media. Soil sample collected from waste dump was serially diluted and inoculated in starch casein agar and SDA to isolate S. griseus and A. oryzae respectively. To assess their potentials to utilize cellulose, each of the two microorganisms was inoculated on cellulose Congo-red media and incubated at 30 ºC for 7days. A zone of clearing around the colonies after incubation confirms the secretion of extracellular cellulase, and was used as an indication for cellulose utilization. The zone of clearing was measured with a meter rule. In the results obtained, both microorganisms demonstrated cellulose utilization ability with Aspergillus oryzae showing a zone of clearing of 30.50 ± 0.50 mm while Streptomyces griseus showed a wider zone of clearing of 60.00 ± 1.00 mm. The results indicate that both microorganisms can be potent producers of the enzyme cellulase, with Streptomyces griseus having a higher cellulase-producing ability.