Research Paper Cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes from thermophilic Aspergillus terreus RWY Reetika Sharma 1,2 , Gurvinder Singh Kocher 2 , Ravinder Singh Bhogal 1,3 and Harinder Singh Oberoi 1 1 Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, P.O. PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 2 Department of Microbiology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 3 School of Bioscience and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Katpadi, Tamilnadu, India Thermophilic Aspergillus terreus RWY produced cellulases and xylanases in optimal concentrations at 45 °C in solid state fermentation process, though enzyme production was also observed at 50 and 55 °C. Filter paper cellulase (FP), endoglucanase (EG), b-glucosidase (BGL), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), xylanase, b-xylosidase, a-L-arabinofuranosidase and xylan esterase activities for A. terreus RWY at 45 °C in 72 h were 11.3  0.65, 103  6.4, 122.5  8.7, 10.3  0.66, 872  22.5, 22.1  0.75, 126.4  8.4 and 907  15.5 U (g-ds) 1 , respectively. Enzyme was optimally active at temperatures and pH ranging between 50–60 °C and 4.0–6.0, respectively. The half life (T 1/2 ) of 270 and 240 min at 70 and 75 °C, respectively for the enzyme indicates its stability at higher temperatures. The addition of MnCl 2 , CoCl 2 , and FeCl 3 significantly enhanced cellulase activity. Enzyme demonstrated multiplicity by having seven, one and three isoform(s) for EG, CBH and BGL, respectively. Significant production of functionally active consortium of cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes from A. terreus RWY makes it a potential candidate in bioprocessing applications. : Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher’s web-site Keywords: Aspergillus terreus RWY / Thermophilic enzymes / Cellulolytic / Xylanolytic / Bioprocessing Received: March 2, 2014; accepted: June 10, 2014 DOI 10.1002/jobm.201400187 Introduction Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer in nature and the major constituent of plant cell wall with its annual production estimated at approximately 100 billion dry tones [1]. Complete hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose requires the combined action of multiple enzymes with different substrate specificities which can be divided into three types: endoglucanase (endo-1,4-b-D-glucanase, EG, EC 3.2.1.4); cellobiohydrolase (exo-1,4-b-D-glucanase, CBH, EC 3.2.1.91), and b-glucosidase (1,4-b-D-glucosidase, BG, EC 3.2.1.21) [2, 3]. On the other hand, xylan, which is a major part of the hemicellulosic fraction in the lignocellulosic biomass is degraded by the depolymeriz- ing endo-acting xylanase (E.C. 3.2.1.8), exo-acting b- xylosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.37), and debranching enzymes such as acetyl-xylan esterase (E.C. 3.1.1.72) and a-arabinofur- anosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.55). The key to the conversion of cellulose present in agricultural residues to biofuel and other useful products is microbial cellulase [4]. The major bottleneck in cost- effective production of second generation bioethanol is low efficiency, low stability, and high cost of hydrolytic enzymes. One of the ways to reduce the enzyme cost is by the use of microorganisms that produce multi-compo- nent cellulases and hemicellulases in significant titres using inexpensive substrates through solid-state fermen- tation (SSF). The advantages of SSF for enzyme produc- tion, such as low capital investment, low operating costs, etc are documented in literature [5]. The functional attributes of the enzyme, such as sustained thermosta- bility in a wide pH range and its ability for efficient Correspondence: Harinder Singh Oberoi, Central Institute of Post- Harvest Engineering and Technology, P.O. PAU, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India E-mail: hari_manu@yahoo.com; harinderoberoi@hotmail.com Phone: 91-161-2313126, 91-9417426649 (Cell) Fax: 91-161-2308670 Environment  Health  Techniques Cellulolytic enzyme production by thermophilic A. terreus 1367 ß 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA,Weinheim www.jbm-journal.com J. Basic Microbiol. 2014, 54, 1367–1377