Screening of xylanase producing microorganisms from soil samples and hemicellulosic materials were carried out in three stages using wheat bran extract agar medium, xylan agar medium and liquid medium with xylan. One of the isolates, identified as BaciZlus SSP-34 produced 100 times more xylanase activity than the other isolates. Maximum enzyme production by this isolate was observed after 102 hours of growth. The optimum pH for the crude xylanase preparation range from 6-8 and optimum temperature was at 50 "C. The enzyme was stable up to 20 minutes at 50 "C and at pH range 4.5-9.0 for more than 2 hours.Xylans are the second most abundant carbohydrates next to cellulose having a linear backbone of /3-1,4 linked xyloses and xylanases found commonly in microorganisms catalyse the hydrolysis of xylans. Endoxylanases [ 1,4-P-D-xylan xylanohydrolases, (E.C.3.2.1.8)] hydrolyse xylan to xylooligosaccharides and xyloses while P-xylosidases [ 1,4-/3-D-xylan xylohydrolases (E.C.3.2.1.37)l catalyse the release of xylosyl residues by terminal attack of xylooligosaccharides (DAHLBERG et al. 1993, SCHOFIELD et al. 1993, NAKAMURA et al. 1994. The most important application of xylanases is the pretreatment of pulps prior to bleaching in pulp and paper industry. The hydrolysis of xylan facilitates the release of lignin from paper pulp and hence reduces the usage of chlorine as the bleaching agent (SHOHAM et al. 1992). Thermostable xylanases with alkaline pH range will be more efficient in kraft pulping process due to the higher temperatures and pH ranges necessary for wood chip cooking (SHOHAM et al. 1992, VIIKARI et al. 1994. Only certain bacterial and a few actinomycete xylanases have been reported earlier with pH optima in the neutral or alkaline ranges (NAKAMURA et al. 1993). In search of novel thermostable alkaline xylanases suitable for industrial applications, studies have been initiated on isolating microorganisms that produce xylanases. The following paper reports the isolation and screening of potent xylanase producing microorganisms and primary characterisation of the xylanases from the selected isolate.
Materials and methodsIsolation and screening: Forest soil samples from Kallar and Ponmudi, Kerala (India) and various hemicellulose containing substrates (wheat bran, bagasse and rice straw) exposed to atmosphere were suspended in sterile distilled water. Suspensions after serial dilution were spread on wheat bran extract agar plates containing (gfl): wheat bran, 50.0; peptone, 5.0; NaCI, 5.0; yeast extract, 3.0 and agar, 20.0. In secondary screening, these cultures were spread on xylan agar plates using 0.5% xylan (Oat spelts xylan from SIGMA Chemicals Co.) instead of wheat bran. After six days of incubation, colonies that showed areas of clear zones with a radius of a minimum of 1 cm were selected for further screening in liquid medium where oat spelts xylan was the sole carbon source. Xylan liquid culture medium (NAKAMURA et al. 1993) contained (gfl): xylan, 5.0; peptone, 5.0; yeast extract, 5.0; K2HP04, 1.0 and M...