CELLULASE PRODUCTION BY WILD STRAINS OF ASPERGILLUS NIGER, PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM AND TRICHODERMA HARZIANUM GROWN ON WASTE CELLULOSIC MATERIALS.

Waste cellulosic materials (corncob, sawdust and sugarcane pulp) and crystalline cellulose induced cellulase production in wild strains of Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum and Trichoderma harzianum isolated from a wood-waste dump in Lagos, Nigeria. Cellulose-supplemented media gave the maximum cellulase activity of -1 0.54, 0.67 and 0.39 units mg Protein for A. niger, P. chrysogenum and T. harzianum respectively. The maximum enzyme activity for A. niger was obtained at 36 hours of cultivation, while P. chrysogenum and T. harzianum gave their optimal enzyme activities at 12 and 60 hours respectively. Of the three cellulosic wastes, best enzyme -1 activity was obtained with sawdust. Maximum enzyme activity of 0.30, 0.24 and 0.20 units mg Protein respectively was obtained with A. niger, P. chrysogenum and T. harzianum at 144 hours of cultivation using the substrate. A. niger gave the highest enzyme activity with any of the three cellulosic materials followed by P. chrysogenum. It thus appears that the use of sawdust presents the best option for low-cost commercial production of cellulase using A. niger and P. chrysogenum as discussed herewit