Cellulolytic Microbes in Mangrove & Their Biotechnological Application

Dr. Bikash Chandra Behera has completed his Ph.D. from North Orissa University. He has 22 international research papers to his credit. After Ph.D. he was engaged as a guest faculty in teaching P.G. students at MITS School of Biotechnology and at present, working as research scientist, at Regional Institute of Biotechnology, Bhubaneswar,India.

Cellulose is an abundant natural biopolymer on earth, found as a major constituent of plant cell wall in lignocellulosic form. Unlike other compounds cellulose is not easily soluble in water hence enzymatic conversion of cellulose has become a key technology for biodegradation of lignocellulosic materials. Cellulase is the enzyme which can degrade cellulose. Today, cellulases along with hemicellulases and pectinases account for about 20% of the world enzyme market. Because, cellulases have huge biotechnological potential in various industries, including food, brewery and wine, industrial waste to chemical feedstock, animal feed, textile and laundry, pulp and paper, agriculture, as well as in research and development of single-cell protein. Microorganisms such as aerobic bacteria, fungi, yeast and actinomycetes produce cellulase that degrade cellulose by hydrolysing the b-1, 4-glycosidic linkages of cellulose. Mangrove habitats at the interface of land and sea are considered to be a unique niche for the isolation of cellulose-degrading microorganisms due to occurrence of rich lignocellulosic biomass.