Isolation and Identification of Cellulose Degrading Bacteria from Mangrove Soil of Mahanadi River Delta and Their Cellulase Production Ability

This study was conducted to isolate cellulose degrading bacteria from mangrove soil of Mahanadi river delta, Odisha, India and also to evaluate their cellulase production ability. Results showed that in total fifteen cellulose degrading bacteria were isolated based on their halo zone formation on congored agar medium. Their maximum carboxymethylcellulose hydrolysis capacities (HC value) were ranged from 1.18 to 2.5 cm. A CMCase test of these fifteen isolates showed that their enzyme activity ranged from 2.471 to 98.253 U/ml/min. From the morphological, aand biochemical characterisation, the isolates were identified as Micrococcus spp., Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Xanthomonas spp. and Brucella spp.