Isolation and characterization of solventogenic, cellulase-free xylanolytic Clostridia from cow rumen

Hemicellulolytic obligate anaerobes capable of converting a range of agricultural substrates and monomeric sugars of hemicellulose to solvents and acids were isolated from cow rumen fluid. The strains were identified as 5 strains of C. beijerinckii (3 different genotypes), 3 strains of C. acetobutylicum (2 different genotypes), 1 strain of C. butyricum and 3 strains of C. bifermentans (2 different genotypes). All of them produced cellulase-free xylanase activity. C. acetobutylicum LUI produced solvent, a high of 5.1 gl^-1 and C.bifermentans LUI produced xylanase activity a high of 4.2 IU ml^-1.