Microbial consortia from hot compost for the production of thermostable cellulases and hemicellulases

The sugar industry is one of the most important agro- industries in Mexico. Bagasse, a byproduct of this process has been used for the production of energy within the same sugar cane processing. However, a large amount of this by-product is used in aerobic composting along with filter mud. In the composting process, thermophilic microorganisms: bacteria and fungi, are responsible for the mineralization of lignocellulose. This work aims to isolate and characterize microbial consortia from hot composting of sugarcane bagasse which, under selective enrichment, secretes glucanases or hemicellulases. Samples from the thermophilic phase of composting were collected, the microstructural characterization was carried out by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The samples were also characterized by spectroscopic techniques: energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis simultaneous differential scanning spectroscopy (TGA/DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microbial consortia were isolated by selective enrichment, using media containing selected carbon sources (glucose, xylan, CMC and avicel). Enzyme activities of xylanase, CMCase and Avicelase activity were measured. Consortia with higher enzyme activity, diversity and abundance of microorganisms were selected and preserved. Microbial diversity of selected microbial consortia was studied by classical and molecular methods.