Abstract:
Peatland conversion activities to become rubber and palm oil plantation can cause
accumulation of cellulose. Sixty nine isolates of actinomycetes and 102 isolates of
ligninolytic molds were isolated from peatland areas in Rimbo Panjang and proved
capable to degrade lignin, but their ability to degrade cellulose was not known yet. The
purpose of this study was to screen the ligninolytic actinomycetes and molds isolates for their cellulolytic activity. Cellulolytic activities were measured by the appearance of clear zone and colony diameter (Z/C). The result shows that 64 of actinomycetes and 98 of mold isolates have cellulolytic activity. The highest ratio of cellulolytic activity from actinomycetes was produced by Streptomyces sp. 3 RB1S3 (5,69) and the highest ratio of cellulolytic activity for mold isolates was produced by Trichoderma sp. RPL1-14 (3,55).
Percentage of actinomycetes and mold isolates which have high cellulolytic-activity were 23% and 24 %, respectively. All molds with high-activity criteria belong to genus Penicillium.
