Screening for cellulose and hemicellulose degrading enzymes from the fungal genus Ulocladium

The fungal genus Ulocladium consists mostly of saprotrophic species and can readily be isolated from dead vegetation, rotten wood, paper, textiles and other cellulose containing materials. Thus, they must produce cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes. In this study fifty Ulocladium strains from ten different species were tested for enzyme activities on 14 different azurine-cross-linked (AZCL) substrates and analyzed by multivariate analysis. The tested strains of Ulocladium were found to produce a broad enzyme profile. Most species in Ulocladium were able to produced high amounts of enzymes that degraded amylose, arabinoxylan, β-glucan, cellulose and xylan; however, variations between species as well as between individual strains in each species were seen. Overall, the enzyme profiles were found to be species specific, but also source of isolation impacted the enzymes produced. The results suggest that species identity as well as isolation source must be considered when screening microorganisms for enzymes.