Isolation and cultivation of xylanolytic and cellulolytic Sarocladium kiliense and Trichoderma virens from the gut of the termite Reticulitermes santonensis

The purpose of this work was the isolation and cultivation of cellulolytic and xylanolytic microorganisms extracted from the gut of the lower termite Reticulitermes santonensis. Microcrystalline cellulose (with and without lignin) and beech wood xylan were used as diets instead of poplar wood in order to select cellulose and hemicellulose-degrading fungi. The strain Sarocladium kiliense (Acremonium kiliense) CTGxxyl was isolated from the termites fed on xylan, while the strain Trichoderma virens CTGxAviL was isolated from the termites fed on cellulose (with and without lignin). Both molds were cultivated in liquid media containing different substrates: agro-residues or purified polymers. S. kiliense produced maximal β-glucosidase, endo-1,4-β-D-glucanase, exo-1,4-β-D-glucanase and endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase activities of 0.103, 3.99, 0.53, and 40.8 IU/ml, respectively. T. virens produced maximal β-xylosidase, endo-1,4-β-D-glucanase, exo-1,4-β-D-glucanase, and endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase activities of 0.38, 1.48, 0.69, and 426 IU/ml. The cellulase and the xylanase of S. kiliense, less common than T. virens, were further investigated. The optimal activity of the xylanase was observed at pH 9–10 at 60 °C. The cellulase showed its maximal activity at pH 10, 70 °C. Zymography identified different xylanases produced by both molds, and some fragment sizes were highlighted: 35, 100, and 170 kDa for S. kiliense and 20, 40, 80, and 170 kDa for T. virens. In both cases, endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase activitieswere confirmed through mass spectrometry.