Abstract
Sixty two out of the sixty four species of fungal isolates tested could produce both exo-β1,4-gluconase (C1) and endo-β1,4-gluconase (Cx) on pure cellulose and rice straw as carbon source in Czapek's medium. Fifty-eight and fifteen species were able to grow at 25℃ and at 45℃, respectively. Eleven species could grow at both 25℃ and 45℃ while, four species appeared only at 45℃. The most cellulolytic species at 25℃ was Trichoderma koningii producing 1.164 C1 (mg glucose/1 ml culture filtrate/1 hr) and 2.690 Cx on pure cellulose, and 0.889 C1 and 1.810 Cx on rice straw, respectively. At 45℃, the most active thermotolerant species were Aspergillus terreus, followed by A. fumigatus. Talaromyces thermophilus was the highest active thermophilic species followed by Malbranchea sulfurea. Most of these species were also active in fermentation of rice straw at 25 and 45℃ (P<0.05). The most active ones were T. koningii, A. ochraceus and A. terreus, which produced 201.5, 193.1 and 188.1 mg crude protein/g dry straw, respectively.