Screening, production and partial characterization of xylanases from woodchips fungi with potential application in bioethanol production.

The objective of this present study was to isolate, identify and screen for potential fungal isolates from local wood chips with respect to xylanase production. The fungal strains were isolated from degrading wood chips. All the fungal strains were screened for their ability to produce xylanase by the plate screening method using Congo red as indicator. Two isolates were further selected among them and screened for the production of the enzymes in liquid medium and identified by 18S rRNA. Phialophora alba, had the highest xylanase activity of 24.43 U/ml with temperature optima at 50°C and 90°C respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-treated sugarcane bagasse using crude enzyme resulted in the production of 0.36 g/ml reducing sugars after 48 hours. This is the first report of a thermophilic xylanase from Phialophora alba. These results suggest that the application of this xylanase in bioethanol production may be very promising.