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Aims: Cellulosic biomass is the only foreseeable sustainable source of fuels and is also one of the dominating waste materials in nature resulting from human activities. Keeping in view the environmental problems like disposal of large volumes of cellulosic wastes and shortage of fossil fuel in the world, the main aim of the present investigation was to characterize and study the cellulolytic activity of Streptomyces albospinus (MTCC 8768), isolated from municipal wastes, on natural cellulosic substrates viz. straw powder, wood powder and finely grated vegetable peels. Methodology and Result: Stanier's Basal broth with 100 mg of each of the substrates was inoculated separately with S. albospinus (MTCC No. 8768) and incubated at 37 °C for 8 days. The cellulosic substrates were re-weighed at an interval of 2 days and the difference between the initial weight and the final weight gave the amount of substrates degraded by the isolate. It was observed that maximum degradation was observed in the grated vegetable peels (64 mg) followed by straw powder (38 mg) and wood powder (28 mg) over a period of 8 days. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: By the selection of efficient cellulolytic microorganisms and costeffective operational techniques, the production of useful end products from the biodegradation of the low cost enormous stock of cellulose in nature can be very beneficial.

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The present study was aimed at characterization of the cellulose degrading actinomycete strain St-1, isolated from soil samples of Patna region in India, on the basis of morphological, cultural, physiological and molecular characterization. Based on morphological and analysis of 16S rRNA sequence, the strain St-1 was identified as Streptomyces griseorubens (Accession no. AB 184139). The strain was able to grow in a wide range of pH (5-11) and temperature (4-45 0 C) with 7 and 28 o C being the optimum pH and temperature, respectively. The strain was able to survive at up to 6 % NaCl concentration through the optimum growth was observed at 1% NaCl concentration.

The tremendous commercial potential of cellulases in a variety of applications remains the driving force for research in this area. The present study was aimed at isolation and screening of promising cellulolytic strains from locally collected soil samples. A promising cellulose degrading bacterial strain designated as St-2 was isolated from agricultural field. Optimization of fermentation media ingredients and environmental factors were done for optimizing growth of the strain which facilitates effective cellulase production. St-2 showed luxuriant growth on sucrose, lactose, mannitol and inositol whereas the growth was moderate on dextrose and fructose. The strain was able to grow in a wide range of pH (5-11) and temperature (4-45 ˚C ) and was tolerant to up to 6% (w/v) of NaCl concentration in the medium. The results indicate wide spectrum adaptability of the strain to variable pH, temperatures and saline concentrations that makes it an advantageous organism to survive in the fluctuating environmental conditions. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme production were 7 (with 2.11 U/ml CMCase activities and 2.22 U/ml FPase activities) and 37˚C (with 1.73 U/ml CMCase activities and 1.92 U/ml FPase activities), respectively. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of the strain were consistent with those of the genus Brevibacillus. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain St-2 showed a similarity score of 99% with Brevibacillus brevis (GenBank Accession No. AB271756) having BLAST score ranging between 821 to 827 bits. Brevibacillus brevis Strain St-2 has been deposited in the GenBank database with the Accession No. KF306223.