Biodegradation of plant pectin and hemicelluloses with three novel Bacillus pumilus strains and their combined application for quality jute fibre production.

Abstract

A microbial consortium consisting of three bacterial strains isolated from jute retting water with very high polygalacturonase (PG) (5.1–6.0 IU/ml), pectin lyase (PNL) (185.7–203.7 U/ml), xylanase (15–16.2 IU/ml) activity, but devoid of any cellulase activity was used for jute and mesta retting under controlled and farmers’ field conditions. The three isolates were identified as different strains of Bacillus pumilus, which were designated as PJRB1, PJRB2 and PJRB3 by ribotyping of a 977 bp fragment. The three strains, when used in a consortium mode, showed enhanced enzymatic activity and in a 1:2:1 ratio produced maximum activity of PG (21.7 IU/ml), PNL (238.0 U/ml), xylanase (15.8 IU/ml). Whole plant retting of jute and mesta with microbial consortium under controlled conditions reduced the retting duration by 7 days for jute, with improved fibre quality i.e. colour, lustre, fibre strength (27.0–28.1 g/tex), fineness (2.7–2.8 tex) and fibre recovery by 13.8–15.24 % over control.