_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: cyruscyrusthem@gmail.com; British Biotechnology Journal 7(3): 147-159, 2015, Article no.BBJ.2015.055 ISSN: 2231–2927 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org Isolation and Identification of Cellulytic Fungi from Agrowastes and Sawmill Soils Ekundayo Temitope Cyrus 1* and Arotupin Daniel Juwon 1 1 Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B.704, Akure, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author ETC designed the study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author ADJ managed the analyses of the study and managed the literature searches. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/BBJ/2015/17575 Editor(s): (1) Chan Yean Yean, Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. Reviewers: (1) Anonymous, Morocco. (2) Ameen O. Mubarak, Department of Chemistry, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history.php?iid=1043&id=11&aid=9019 Received 18 th March 2015 Accepted 1 st April 2015 Published 6 th May 2015 ABSTRACT Five agricultural wastes and sawmill soil were investigated for fungi capable of producing cellulase. Isolation was carried using serial dilution techniques and isolates were screened for cellulase production on carboxymethyl cellulose-containing agar plates. Copious isolates were further subjected to submerged cultivation for quantitative evaluation of cellulase biosynthesis. Highest fungal load was 6.67±0.33×10 6 sfu/g (Sawmill soil) and the least was 2.33±0.33×10 6 sfu/g (yam peels). A total of sixty seven fungi were identified from the samples. The isolates were of fifteen fungal species namely Mucor mucedo, Aspergillus niger, A. repens, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, Articulospora inflata, Gonatobotrys simplex, Gyrothrix circinata, Dendrospora erecta, Penicillium notatum, P. italicum, Varicosporium elodea, Gonatobotryum apicolatum, Mucor racemosus and Rhizopus nigricans. Aspergillus had the highest occurrence (36.11%), while the least occurrence was Varicosporium and Gonatobotryum (2.78%). Highest cellulase activity ratio was exhibited by Aspergillus niger (1.90) and the least by Aspergillus repens (1.04) on plate screening. The highest cellulase producer among selected isolates under submerged growth was Gonatobotrys simplex (1.2143±0.02 U/ml), followed by Aspergillus niger (1.1429±0.01 U/ml) and the least by Aspergillus parasiticus (0.8265±0.01 U/ml). Submerged protein content was highest in Aspergillus niger culture Original Research Article