Abstract
The genus Chaetomium is a rich source of novel and bioactive secondary metabolites of great importance. To date, a variety of more than 200 secondary metabolites belonging to diverse structural types have been discovered. Fungal enzymes are used in food, beverages, confectionaries, textiles, and leather industries to simplify the processing of raw materials. They are often more stable than enzymes derived from other sources. Ten isolates of Chaetomium globosum recovered and designated as TUCg1 to TUCg10 were identified by morphological and molecular biology means and submitted to the GenBank. These isolates were screened for extracellular enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, laccase, lipase, pectinases, protease and chitinase on solid media. All Chaetomium globosum isolates screened for potential enzymes showed amylolytic, cellulolytic, and proteolytic activities; six isolates were chitinolytic and laccase producers; and five and three isolates showed pectinolytic and lipolytic activities, respectively. The produced array of enzymes differed among isolates. Molecular techniques such as internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequencing and specific genes random primers polymerase chain reaction (SGRP-PCR) have shown high DNA polymorphism of Chaetomium globosum. In conclusion, SGRP-PCR is a rapid and valuable tool for assessment and characterization of genetic diversity of Chaetomium globosum, which suggests the use of this technique for identification of different fungal isolates.