Abstract

                                Lignocellulosic biomass is the major agricultural waste in countries like India which have major source of income as agriculture. There is a need to study the conversion of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin which are the major components of lignocellulosic biomass. Being a recalcitrant material microbial conversion of lignin is of minor im- portant. This study mainly focuses on bioconversion of hemicellulose and the study encompasses screening and identification of bacteria that can produce xylanase enzyme from vermicasts using different natural lignocellulosic materials such as paddy straw, coir pith, dried leaves, saw dust and leaf residue as substrate. Bacterial cultures from vermicasts, capable of hydrolyzing xylanase are screened. Enrichment of cultures is done in xylan enriched minimal media. Selected and purified bacterial cultures are grown in xylan media were activated and transferred into the xylan broth for further enzymatic assay. The bacterial cultures along with the standard culture Bacillus pumilus are taken for enzymatic assay. Among the 7 cultures PSX1 recorded the maximum activity of 11.55 IU ml-1 followed by SDX3 (10.71 IU ml-1) at 48 h of growth and declined further. The standard culture Bacillus pumilus recorded 11.27 IU ml-1. PSX1 culture is selected for further studies to produce xylanase

Key words : vermicast, Bacillus sp., paddy straw, xylan, bioconversion