A novel thermoalkaliphilic xylanase from Gordonia sp. is salt, solvent and surfactant tolerant

Two aerobic bacterial consortia namely Con T and Con R were developed by enrichment technique from termite gut and cow dung respectively, using xylan as a sole carbon source. Molecular characterization of Con R based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed the presence of Pannonibacter sp. R-3 and Pseudoxanthomas sp. R-5. On the other hand, Con T showed the presence of Pseudoxanthomas sp. T-5, Cellulosimicrobium sp. T-21, and Gordonia sp. T-30. Being the maximum xylanase producer among the five isolates and being a novel xylanase producing bacterial genus, Gordonia sp. T-30 was selected. Xylanase produced by Gordonia sp. T-30 showed optimum activity at 60 °C and pH 9. Xylanase was 95% stable for 120 min at pH 9.0 and 98% stable at 60 °C for 90 min. Xylanase activity was stimulated in the presence of organic solvents such as petroleum ether, acetone, diethyl ether, n-hexane, and benzene. Detergent like cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and presence of NaCl also accelerated the xylanase function. Comparative evaluation was studied between sterilized and non-sterilized solid fermentation to produce xylanase by Gordonia sp. T-30 using various agricultural residues as growth substrate in cost effective manner. Industrially important features endowed by this xylanase make it a very promising candidate for food, feed, and fuel industry.