Creating a novel genetic diversity of Trichoderma afroharzianum by γ-radiation for xylanase-cellulase production

Creating novel sources of a microbial strain using induced mutation can increase enzyme production for industrial use. According to this, we have developed a mutant strain of Trichoderma afroharzianum by Co⁶⁰ gamma irradiation. Trichoderma mutants were isolated from an optimum dose of 250 Gy. The qualitative and quantitative screening were used for evaluating their enzyme production and the DNA barcoding method was used to identify the best Trichoderma mutant isolates. The highest cellulase (exo-glucanase, endoglucanase, β-glucosidase, and total cellulase) and xylanase activities were observed in superior mutant isolates of Trichoderma afroharzianum NAS107-M44 and Trichoderma afroharzianum NAS107-M82, which is approximately 1.6-2.5 times higher than its parent strain, respectively. The electrophoretic pattern of proteins showed that the exo-glucanase I, endo-glucanase III, and the xylanase I enzymes hydrolyzed the corn bran, synergistically. Overall, gamma irradiation-induced mutation could be an expedient technique to access such superior mutants for the bioconversion of corn bran wastes.