Use of combined UV and chemical mutagenesis treatment of Aspergillus terreus D34 for hyper-production of cellulose-degrading enzymes and enzymatic hydrolysis of mild-alkali pretreated rice straw

Background Microbial production of cellulose-degrading enzymes could be significantly improved using traditional mutagenesis treatment. Development of high-titre cellulase producing mutants drastically reduces the costs involved in cellulase production and downstream processing in commercial-scale enzyme production. Here, we have evaluated the efficacy of different Aspergillus terreus D34 mutants for hyper-production of improved cellulase enzymes utilizing locally available lignocellulosic biomass residues as growth substrates in solid state fermentation conditions. Further, enzymatic hydrolysis of mild-alkali pre-treated rice straw was performed using the improved cellulases.