Abstract

                                Cellulase producing thermophillic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis VSDB5 was isolated from biotrap based enrichment at hot springs in Himachal Pradesh. Molecular confirmation for the presence of cellulase in B. licheniformis using spe- cific primers amplified partial gene fragment around 1300 bp. Cellulase gene specific PCR followed by sequencing and BLAST analysis revealed the fragment had 98% homology to Endoglucanase gene of Bacillus subtilis 168. Mul- tiple alignment and homology modelling revealed it belongs to GH5 endoglucanase with its structure containing a classical (β/α)8-barrel fold with conserved active site residues, Glu257 and Glu165.

Key words : Cellulase, hydrolysis, Endoglucanase, Bacillus subtilis, cloning