Identification and Characterization of Enzymatic Activities of Some Native Fungi Isolated From Composting Process

uring the composing process, microorganisms involved in degradation of agricultural and municipal waste are of great importance. Therefore, identification of beneficial microorganisms could play an important role in improving the quality of the produced compost. Fungi play an effective role in degradation of organic matter, So the objective of the present study was to isolate and characterize effective fungal strains during composting process. The fungi were isolated from mature compost in Isfahan Compost manufacture using serial dilution method. The enzymatic activities (lipase, amylase, cellulose, xylanase and protease) of the isolates were measured by qualitative and quantitative methods. Three isolates with enzyme activity were isolated and used for more detailed studies. The isolated fungal strains showed a wide range of different enzymatic activities. Molecular identification of the selected strains was performed based on PCR amplification and sequencing of a 1100 bp fragment of fungal 18SrDNA using M13R and M13F primers. Phylogenic studies revealed that the isolated fungal strains belonged to Aspergillus fumigates which are commonly exist in composting process. According to Municipal Solid Waste enrich cellulosic, starchy and protein compounds and these three strains have high potential of producing degradation enzymes, application of these fungal strains as accelerator in composting process (microbial booster) with different enzyme activities can transform wastes rapidly, then the efficiency of compost.