Thirty four samples of naturally decomposing waste material were collected from rural and urban parts of Western Maharashtra from which 64 bacteria, 49 fungi and 63 actinomycetes strains were isolated. The isolates were screened for cellulolytic activity on Czapek’s mineral salt agar media amended with carboxymethyl cellulose. Seventeen bacteria, thirty fungi and fifty seven actinomycetes isolates showed zone clearance indicating cellulase enzyme activity. Functional potential of most efficient cellulolytic microorganisms which include seventeen bacteria, twenty fungi and nineteen actinomycetes isolates was confirmed by endoglucanase assay. | Characterization of cellulolytic microorganisms associated with naturally decomposing waste material
