Optimization of Cellulase Production by a Novel Endophytic Fungus Penicillium oxalicum R4 Isolated from Taxus cuspidata

Endophytic fungi inside a plant can degrade portion of lignin and cellulose. Penicillium is one the industrial microorganisms with advantage producing enzymes complete enzyme system that be secreted into extracellular space. The natural evolution ancient tree species from special geographic environments to screen out cellulase-producing strains excellent characteristics provides promising direction for future enzymes. present study successfully isolated screened novel fungal endophyte, oxalicum R4, higher cellulase activity Taxus cuspidata. Under optimized culture conditions obtained by Box–Behnken design (BBD) an artificial neural network–genetic algorithm (ANN–GA), yields Filter Paperase (FPase), Carboxymethyl Cellulase (CMCase) β-glucosidase (βGLase) produced P. R4 were 1.45, 5.27 6.35 U/mL, which approximately 1.60-fold, 1.59-fold 2.16-fold than those non-optimized culture, respectively. discovery endophytic located in environments, such as cuspidata, known living fossil, new research directions