Abstract

The objective of this present study was to isolate, identify and screen for potential fungal isolates from local degrading wood chips with respect to glucanase and xylanase production. The fungal strains were isolated from degrading wood chips over a period of six months. Five hundred and twenty six isolates were obtained from the different degrading wood chips with different frequencies of occurrence. Using cultural and morphological observations, the isolates were identified and grouped into thirteen fungal species.  All the fungal strains were screened for their ability to produce both glucanase and xylanase by plate screening method using Congo red as indicator. Twenty isolates were further selected among them and screened for the production of the enzymes in liquid medium. Among the twenty isolates, Trichoderma reesei TRAR had the highest glucanase activity of 10.18 U/ml while Fusarium compactum FCGA had the highest xylanase activity of 9.33 U/ml.

Key words: Xylanase, glucanase, microfungi, degrading wood, screening.