Abstract
Worldwide attention has turned to utilize different cellulolytic microorganisms for the bioconversion of cellulose into valuable products, such as bioethanol. The aim of this work is to isolate cellulaseproducing bacteria, optimization the growth conditions, production of bioethanol and possible use in pharmaceutical industry. Twenty cellulase-producing bacterial isolates (Coded alphabetically from A-T) were isolated from Jazan soil. The 'E' isolate showed maximum cellulase production. The isolate was characterized by 16S rRNA analysis. The gene sequence of E isolate indicated that the DNA sequence was 99.6% homologous with 16S rRNA gene sequences of Bacillus albus. The highest cellulase activity of B. albus was achieved when the bacterial growth media was at pH 6, supplemented with glucose, maltose, Carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC), and lactose (1%, w/v), and inoculated with 3% (v/v) and incubated at 35oC for 96 h. The results indicate the liberation of 2.0 g/l reducing sugar via the DNS method. The total reducing sugar produced was 12.4 g/l of ethanol after 72 h, when Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used as a fermentation agent. Large scale production of bioethanol is recommended for possible use in industry.