Resumo

Filamentous fungi comprise an important class of microorganisms on relevant commercial value, which are used by the biotechnology industry to produce a variety of commercial enzymes. The worldwide demand for optimized processes in the transformation of biomass into diversified products and with higher added value has resulted in the use of enzymes in industrial processes. Most of these enzymes are from microbial sources (fungi or bacteria) and extracellular. The Cerrado is a biome that is constituted by different phytophysiognomies, where can be prospected filamentous fungi degrading cell wall plant with potential biotechnological applications. The present study aims to evaluate the production potential of endoglucanase of the filamentous fungi isolated from decaying tree trunks under over leaf litter on phytophysiognomie Cerrado Stricto Sensu , which may have applications in bioenergy industries, textiles, among others. The trunks were ground in a Wiley mill at 40 mesh sieve. The crushed material was spread on plates with culture media Rose Bengal or PDA (potato dextrose agar), incubated at 28°C, which they were monitored the growth of the colonies for 7 days. The isolates were stored in 18% glycerol. The productive potential of these fungi-endoglucanase was determined by cultivation on solid medium containing carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), incubated at 28°C for 4 days, where was rated the enzymatic index, which is given by the ratio between the diameter halo and colony size. It was isolated from 110 strains of filamentous fungi. The activities of endoglucanase by isolates, revealed by the Congo red staining technique, were compared with commercial strains of Trichoderma harzianum and T. reesei QM9414, as positive controls. The percentage of isolates presenting endoglucanase halos was 60.91%, in the highest index enzymatic of 2.54 mm was obtained by Isolated GUFT-66. While the T. harzianum and T. reesei QM9414 showed indices of 1.58 mm and 1.12 mm, respectively. In this way the result of selection by enzymatic index was significant based on the rates showing in literature above 1, which indicate organisms promising for cellulase production. This work is currently under development at Embrapa Agroenergia, in which are being identified by molecular biology, as well as grown in different carbon sources for optimizing the production of endoglucanase and other enzymes such as exoglucanase, beta-glicosidase, xylanase, mananase, amylase and lipase, which will be partially purified and characterized about pH, temperature and thermostability for application in enzymatic process.