KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE AND USE THEREOF

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 with a deposit number of CCTCC NO: M2019851. The strain can degrade corn stover into acetic acid, ethanol, and hydrogen, and can further metabolize into acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, and hydrogen.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A microbial inoculant, comprising a Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 deposited in the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) with the deposit number of CCTCC NO: M2019851.

12. Use of Klebsiella pneumonia in at least one of a1) to a10): a1) degradation of cellulose; a2) degradation of hemicellulose; a3) degradation of a carbon source; a4) production of at least one of acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, and hydrogen; a5) preparation of exoglucanase, endoglucanase, and/or β-glucosidase from extracellular fermention broth; a6) preparation of a product for cellulose degradation; a7) preparation of a product for hemicellulose degradation; a8) preparation of a product for carbon source degradation; a9) preparation of a product for production of at least one of the acetic acid, the ethanol, the 1,3-propanediol, the lactic acid, and the hydrogen; and a10) preparation of a product with a function of the exoglucanase, the endoglucanase, and/or the β-glucosidase from extracellular fermention broth.

13. A product, comprising Klebsiella pneumoniae; wherein the product has at least one of the functions a1) to a5): a1) degradation of cellulose; a2) degradation of hemicellulose; a3) degradation of a carbon source; a4) production of at least one of acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, and hydrogen; a5) preparation of exoglucanase, endoglucanase, and/or β-glucosidase from extracellular fermention broth.

14. The use according to claim 12, wherein the carbon source is an organic carbon source and/or an inorganic carbon source; and the nitrogen source is an organic nitrogen source and/or an inorganic nitrogen source.

15. The product according to claim 13, wherein the carbon source is an organic carbon source and/or an inorganic carbon source; and the nitrogen source is an organic nitrogen source and/or an inorganic nitrogen source.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a cellulose-degrading ability of a cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 by a plate transparent zone method;

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a standard curve of glucose;

[0056] FIG. 3 shows a standard curve of p-nitrophenol; and

[0057] FIG. 4 shows a detection result of activities of exoglucanase, endoglucanase, and β-glucosidase in a crude enzyme solution.

DESCRIPTION OF PRESERVATION

[0058] Species name: Klebsiella pneumoniae

[0059] Strain number: Y7-3

[0060] Preservation institution: China Center for Type Culture Collection

[0061] Short Name of Preservation Institution: CCTCC

[0062] Address: Wuhan University, China

[0063] Date of Preservation: Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019

[0064] Registration number in the Collection Center: CCTCC NO: M2019851

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0065] The following examples facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure, but do not limit the present disclosure.

[0066] Experimental methods in the following examples are conventional methods, unless otherwise specified.

[0067] Unless otherwise specified, the test materials used in the following examples are all commercially available from conventional biochemical reagent stores.

[0068] In the quantitative experiments of the following examples, triplicate experiments are set up, and the results are averaged.

[0069] LB liquid medium: adding distilled water to 10 g of peptone, 5 g of a yeast extract powder and 10 g of sodium chloride, adjusting a pH value to 7.0, adjusting a volume to 1 L, sterilizing at 121° C. for 20 min, and cooling for use.

[0070] LB solid medium: adding agar to the LB liquid medium to make a concentration to be 15 g/L; and sterilizing at 121° C. for 20 min. The medium cooled to about 55° C. is poured into a petri dish and allowed to cool in room temperature.

[0071] Congo red plate: dissolving 10.0 g of CMC-Na, 5.0 g of NaCl, 1.0 g of KH.sub.2PO.sub.4, 0.2 g of MgSO.sub.4, 10.0 g of the yeast extract powder, and 18.0 g of Agar in an appropriate amount of distilled water, diluting to 1 L with the distilled water, and adjusting a pH value to 7.0; conducting autoclaving at 121° C. for 15 min; after being cooled to about 55° C., pouring the medium into a sterile petri dish and cooling in room temperature to obtain the Congo red plate.

[0072] A MAC medium is a product of Beijing Solarbio Science & Technology Co., Ltd.

Example 1

Isolation, Identification and Preservation of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851

[0073] I. Isolation of a Cellulose-Degrading Bacterium Y7-3

[0074] 1. 0.6 mL of a bovine rumen sample (collected from Xikouzi Slaughterhouse, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China) was added to a shake flask (50 mL) containing 30 mL of an LB liquid medium, and mixed well; and shaking culture was conducted at 37° C. and 180 rpm for 12 h to obtain a cultured bacterial solution.

[0075] 2. 1 mL of the cultured bacterial solution was added into a sterile test tube containing 9 mL of sterile water and mixed thoroughly (a dilution at this time was recorded as 10.sup.−1); 1 mL of sample was drawn from the test tube and added to another sterile test tube containing 9 mL of the sterile water and mixed well; similarly, bacterial solutions with different dilutions were prepared at 10.sup.−2, 10.sup.−3, 10.sup.−4, 10.sup.−5, 10.sup.−6, 10.sup.−7, and 10.sup.−8. 0.1 mL of each dilution was evenly spread on the MacConkey Agar (MAC)medium, and cultured at 37° C. for 1 d. The pink or red colonies were purified more than 3 times on the MAC medium.

[0076] 3. The initial screening of cellulose degradation ability was conducted by a plate transparent zone method. 2 μL of a bacterial suspension of each strain purified in step 2 was inoculated onto a Congo red plate (each strain was repeated 3 times on one plate and a bacterial content in the bacterial suspension of each strain was the same), and cultured at 37° C. for 24 h; the strain was stained with a 1% (m/v) Congo red staining solution for 1 h; and the strain was decolorized by a 0.9% (m/v) NaCl aqueous solution, and then observed.

[0077] A strain forming a large transparent zone on the Congo red plate (that is, the strain could degrade cellulose) was screened, as shown in FIG. 1, and named as cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3.

[0078] II. Identification of the Cellulose-Degrading Bacterium Y7-3

[0079] 1. Colony Morphological Identification

[0080] The cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3, in a logarithmic growth phase and with a stable colony size obtained by separation and purification of step 1, was subjected to single colony state observation, mainly including the colony size, color, transparency, and wetness, the colony surface state (whether it was flat, protruding, folded, and concave), and the colony edge status (whether it was neat, irregular, and radial).

[0081] The results showed that the cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 had round, light red, and opaque colonies with a diameter of 2.0 mm to 4.0 mm, neat edges and a smooth and moist surface.

[0082] 2. Identification of Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics

[0083] The physiological and biochemical characteristics of cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 was identified by a single-box biochemical identification kit (product of Guangdong Huankai Microbial Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd.). The specific operation steps were as follows:

[0084] 1) Under sterile conditions, an aluminum cap of a biochemical identification tube was opened (a component in the single-box biochemical identification kit).

[0085] 2) The cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 strain cultured to the logarithmic phase was diluted with sterile physiological saline to obtain a diluent with a concentration of 10.sup.8 cfu/mL; 1 to 2 drops of the diluent was inoculated into the biochemical identification tube, and incubated at 37° C. and 180 r/min; the color change was observed within a specified time according to instructions of the kit, to obtain the corresponding physiological and biochemical characteristics.

[0086] All used biochemical identification tubes were autoclaved before waste disposal.

[0087] The physiological and biochemical characteristics of cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 were shown in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Physiological and biochemical characteristics of cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 Physiological and biochemical Experimental Physiological and biochemical Experimental characteristics results characteristics results Malonate + Fermentation of D-glucose + Citrate utilization + sugar and alcohol D-sucrose + Methyl red − D-lactose + Citrate + D-galactose + Lysine dehydrogenase + L-arabinose + V.P test + D-fructose + Xylose + Glycerin + Dulcitol + “+” represent positive reaction, “+” represent negative reaction

[0088] 3. Homology analysis of 16S rDNA Sequences

[0089] (1) A genomic DNA of the cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 was extracted and used as a template for PCR amplification using a primer pair including a primer 27F: 5′-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 2) and a primer 1492R: 5′-GGTTACCTTGTTACGACTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 3), to obtain a PCR amplification product.

[0090] A reaction system was 50 μL, including: 25 μL of an Es Taq MasterMix (Beijing TransGen Biotech Co., Ltd.), 2 μL of a primer 27F aqueous solution (concentration 2.5 pmol/μL), 2 μL of a primer 1492R aqueous solution (concentration 2.5 pmol/μL), 1 μL of the template, and 20 μL of ddH.sub.2O. The reaction was conducted by: 95° C. for 10 min; 95° C. for 30 sec, 56° C. for 30 sec, and 72° C. for 90 sec, conducting 30 cycles; and 74° C. for 10 min.

[0091] (2) A PCR amplification product obtained in step (1) was sequenced.

[0092] The sequencing results showed that the PCR amplification product obtained in step (1) included a DNA molecule shown in SEQ ID NO: 1.

[0093] A nucleotide sequences shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 were aligned on NCBI. The comparison results showed that the cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 had the highest homology with Klebsiella pneumoniae, reaching 99%. Therefore, the cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 was identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae.

[0094] III. Preservation

[0095] The cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 has been deposited in the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) in Wuhan University, China on Oct. 24, 2019, with a deposit number of CCTCC NO: M2019851. The cellulose-degrading bacterium Y7-3 has a full name of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851, and is referred to as Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 for short.

EXAMPLE 2

Use of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851

[0096] High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method included the following detection conditions: a detector was a Waters 2414 Differential Refractive Index Detector (RID); a chromatographic column was an Aminex HPX-87H column (300 mm×7.8 mm id, 9μm) from Bio-Rad, U.S; a mobile phase is an aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution with a concentration of 5 mmol/L; a mobile phase flow rate was 0.5 mL/min; an injection volume was 20 μL; and a column temperature was 50° C.

[0097] I. Plotting of a Standard Curve

[0098] 1. Plotting of a Lactic Acid Standard Curve

[0099] 2.0000 g of a lactic acid standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare a lactic acid stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The lactic acid stock solution was diluted with water to obtain lactic acid standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of lactic acid standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The lactic acid standard curve was plotted with the concentration of lactic acid as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0100] The lactic acid standard curve was: y=113.55726x-216.79178 (R.sup.2=0.997); where y is the peak area and x is the lactic acid concentration.

[0101] 2. Plotting of an Acetic Acid Standard Curve

[0102] 2.0000 g of an acetic acid standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare an acetic acid stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The acetic acid stock solution was diluted with water to obtain acetic acid standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of acetic acid standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The acetic acid standard curve was plotted with the concentration of acetic acid as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0103] The acetic acid standard curve was: y=95.63793x+27.78082 (R.sup.2=0.999); where y is the peak area and x is the acetic acid concentration.

[0104] 3. Plotting of a 1,3-propanediol Standard Curve

[0105] 2.0000 g of a 1,3-propanediol standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare a 1,3-propanediol stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The 1,3-propanediol mother liquor was diluted with water to obtain 1,3-propanediol standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of 1,3-propanediol standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The 1,3-propanediol standard curve was plotted with the concentration of 1,3-propanediol as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0106] The 1,3-propanediol standard curve was: y=157.43206x+1.84384 (R.sup.2=0.999); where y is the peak area and x is the 1,3-propanediol concentration.

[0107] 4. Plotting of an Ethanol Standard Curve

[0108] 2.0000 g of an ethanol standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare an ethanol stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The ethanol mother liquor was diluted with water to obtain ethanol standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of ethanol standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The ethanol standard curve was plotted with the concentration of ethanol as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0109] The ethanol standard curve was: y=86.49781x+64.44658 (R.sup.2=0.999); where y is the peak area and x is the ethanol concentration.

[0110] 5. Plotting of a Glucose Standard Curve

[0111] 2.0000 g of a glucose standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare a glucose stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The glucose stock solution was diluted with water to obtain glucose standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of glucose standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The glucose standard curve was plotted with the concentration of glucose as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0112] The glucose standard curve was: y=210.34411x+237.88767 (R.sup.2=0.999); where y is the peak area and x is the glucose concentration.

[0113] 6. Plotting of a Xylose Standard Curve

[0114] 2.0000 g of a xylose standard product was accurately weighed into a 1 L volumetric flask, dissolved with 25 mL of a 10% (v/v) aqueous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution, diluted to 1 L with water, and shaken well to prepare a xylose stock solution with a concentration of 2000 mg/L. The xylose stock solution r was diluted with water to obtain xylose standard solutions with concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/L separately. The peak areas of xylose standard solutions with different concentrations were detected by HPLC, repeated three times. The xylose standard curve was plotted with the concentration of xylose as the abscissa and the peak area as the ordinate.

[0115] The xylose standard curve was: y=204.71425x+26.59726 (R.sup.2=0.999); where y is the peak area and x is the xylose concentration.

[0116] II. Detection of Degradation Rates of Cellulose and Hemicellulose

[0117] 1. Preparation of a Standard Sample

[0118] (1) 0.05 g of glucose, 0.05 g of xylose and 1 mL of a 74% (v/v) sulfuric acid aqueous solution were added in a rolling tube, acidified at 30° C. for 60 min, and immediately treated in an ice bath (to terminate the reaction).

[0119] (2) after step (1), 28 mL of water was added to the sample, and treated in a high-pressure steam sterilizer at 121° C. for 60 min; the sample was transferred before the temperature dropped to 100° C. (to prevent excessive sugar loss), to obtain the standard sample treatment solution.

[0120] 2. Obtaining a Sample Treatment Solution

[0121] (1) A fermentation broth was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 10 min, and a precipitate was collected as a sample.

[0122] (2) The sample obtained in step (1) was dried in a freeze dryer to a constant weight; where the weight was recorded as G.sub.sample.

[0123] (3) 0.025 g of a solid obtained in step (2) and 0.25 mL of the 74% (v/v) sulfuric acid aqueous solution were added in a rolling tube, acidified at 30° C. for 60 min, and immediately treated in an ice bath (to terminate the reaction).

[0124] (4) after step (3), 7 mL of water was added to the sample, and treated in a high-pressure steam sterilizer at 121° C. for 60 min; the sample was transferred before the temperature dropped to 100° C. (to prevent excessive sugar loss), to obtain the sample treatment solution.

[0125] 3. Obtaining Degradation Rates of Cellulose and Hemicellulose

[0126] (1) The standard sample treatment solution or sample treatment solution was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 5 min, and a supernatant was collected.

[0127] (2) After step (1), the supernatant was filtered with a water-based needle filter (0.22 μm), and a filtrate was collected.

[0128] (3) A peak area S.sub.monosaccharide of monosaccharides in the filtrate collected in step (2) was detected using HPLC; a glucose content C.sub.G and a xylose content C.sub.X in the sample treatment solution were obtained according to the glucose standard curve and the xylose standard curve; further, the glucose content and the xylose content in the sample were obtained, and a sum of the glucose content and the xylose content in the sample was a mass of the sugar after adding sulfuric acid, denoted as M.sub.mass of the sugar after adding sulfuric acid.

[0129] (4) A peak area of monosaccharides in the sample collected in step (2) was detected using HPLC; a glucose content and a xylose content in the sample were obtained according to the glucose standard curve and the xylose standard curve; and a sum of the glucose content and the xylose content in the sample was a mass of the sugar before adding sulfuric acid, denoted as M.sub.mass of the sugar before adding sulfuric acid.

[0130] (5) The cellulose degradation rate and the hemicellulose degradation rate of the sample were obtained according to formula a to formula g.

[0131] A loss rate of acid hydrolysis was calculated according to formula a, denoted as W;

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}W=\frac{M_{\mathrm{mass}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{sugar}\mathrm{after}\mathrm{adding}\mathrm{sulfuric}\mathrm{acid}}}{M_{\mathrm{mass}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{sugar}\mathrm{before}\mathrm{adding}\mathrm{sulfuric}\mathrm{acid}}}\times 100.& \left(\mathrm{formula}a\right)\end{array}$

[0132] A mass of glucose in the sample was calculated according to formula b, denoted as M.sub.G; M.sub.G=C.sub.G×V.sub.sample×(1×W)×G.sub.sample/0.025 (formula b); where V.sub.samplewas a volume of the sample.

[0133] A mass of xylose in the sample was calculated according to formula c, denoted as M.sub.X; M.sub.X=C.sub.X×V.sub.sample×(1+W)×G.sub.sample/0.025 (formula c); where V.sub.sample was the volume of the sample.

[0134] A mass of remaining xylan was calculated according to formula d, denoted as M.sub.Glucan;

[00002]$\begin{array}{cc}{M}_{\mathrm{Xylan}}=M_X\times \frac{132}{150}.& \left(\mathrm{formula}d\right)\end{array}$

[0135] A mass of remaining glucose was calculated according to formula e, denoted as M.sub.Glucan;

[00003]$\begin{array}{cc}{M}_{G_{\mathrm{lucan}}}=M_G\times \frac{162}{180}.& \left(\mathrm{formula}e\right)\end{array}$

[0136] A hemicellulose degradation rate was calculated according to formula f; the hemicellulose degradation rate was

[00004]$\begin{array}{cc}1-\frac{M_{\mathrm{xylan}}}{M_{\mathrm{mass}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{xylan}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{corn}\mathrm{stover}}}\times 100\%.& \left(\mathrm{formula}f\right)\end{array}$

[0137] A cellulose degradation rate was calculated according to formula g; the cellulose degradation rate was

[00005]$\begin{array}{cc}1-\frac{M_{\mathrm{Glucan}}}{M_{\mathrm{mass}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{gluca}n\mathrm{in}\mathrm{corn}\mathrm{stover}}}\times 100\%.& \left(\mathrm{formula}g\right)\end{array}$

[0138] III. Use of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 in Degradation of Different Carbon Sources to Produce Acetic Acid, Ethanol, and Hydrogen

[0139] Carbon source to be tested 1: glucose.

[0140] Carbon source to be tested 2: xylose.

[0141] Carbon source to be tested 3: sucrose.

[0142] Carbon source to be tested 4: starch

[0143] Carbon source to be tested 5: carboxymethyl cellulose

[0144] Carbon source to be tested 6: corn stover

[0145] Carbon source to be tested 7: corn husk

[0146] Carbon source to be tested 1 to carbon source to be tested 5 were inorganic carbon sources, and carbon source to be tested 6 and carbon source to be tested 7 were organic carbon sources.

[0147] Three parallel samples were set for each carbon source to be tested, and results were averaged. A method included the following specific steps:

[0148] 1. The carbon source to be tested was added in a penicillin bottle (100 mL) containing 20 mL of an LB liquid medium, and mixed well to obtain a medium with a concentration of the carbon source to be tested of 10 g/L; the bottle was vacuumized and filled with nitrogen (to maintain an anaerobic environment), and sterilized at 121° C. and 0.1 Mpa for 20 min to obtain a fermentation medium.

[0149] 2. After step 1, the fermentation medium was cooled to room temperature, and 1.5 mL of a seed liquid of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 with an OD.sub.600 nm value of 1.5 was added to obtain a corresponding initial system.

[0150] 3. After step 2, the initial system was cultured at 37° C. and 180 rpm for 24 h to obtain the corresponding fermentation broth.

[0151] The gas produced during fermentation was detected using gas chromatography. The chromatographic model was SP-3420A, a column model was TDX-1 packed column, a column temperature was 160° C., a detector temperature was 160° C., a heating wire was 180° C., and high-purity nitrogen was used as a carrier gas.

[0152] The results show that hydrogen is mainly produced during the fermentation culture. The production of hydrogen is shown in row 2 in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Carboxymethyl Glucose Xylose Sucrose cellulose Corn stover Corn husk Hydrogen 1472.5 ± 11.88.sup.Aa  1128.62 ± 66.13.sup.Bb  846.56 ± 15.46.sup.Cc 277.26 ± 2.35.sup.Dd  234.67 ± 14.29.sup.Ee   134.35 ± 2.26.sup.Ff   production (mL/L) Acetic acid 1.40 ± 0.04.sup.Aa 1.11 ± 0.11.sup.Bb  0.87 ± 0.05.sup.Cc 0.33 ± 0.04.sup.Dd  0.34 ± 0.003.sup.Dd .sup. 0.26 ± 0.012.sup.Ee (g/L) Ethanol (g/L) 0.63 ± 0.01.sup.Aa 0.60 ± 0.01.sup.Aa  0.48 ± 0.01.sup.Bb 0 ± 0.sup.Cc 0 ± 0.sup.Cc 0 ± 0.sup.Cc Lactic acid 0.14 ± 0.01.sup.Aa  0.10 ± 0.003.sup.Bb 0.0759 ± 0.015.sup.Cc 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0 ± 0.sup.Dd (g/L) Note: the data were presented as mean values ± standard deviation, the different upper case letters on the shoulder were presented as a significant difference (P < 0.05), the different lower case letters on the shoulder were presented as a significant difference (P < 0.01)

[0153] 4. After step 3, the fermentation broth was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 10 min, and a corresponding supernatant was collected.

[0154] 5. After step 4, 50 μL of a 10% (v/v) H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution was added to 2 mL of the supernatant, and mixed well; a mixture was filtered with a 0.22 μm water-based needle filter, and a corresponding filtrate was collected.

[0155] 6. The filtrate was detected by HPLC, contents of the lactic acid, acetic acid and ethanol in the corresponding filtrate were obtained according to the corresponding peak area and standard curve, and contents of the lactic acid, acetic acid and ethanol in the corresponding fermentation broth were further obtained.

[0156] The test results are shown in row 3, row 4 and row 5 in Table 2. The results show that each fermentation broth includes acetic acid, with a highest content of 1.4 g/L when the carbon source is glucose; when the carbon source is glucose, xylose or sucrose, the fermentation broth includes lactic acid and ethanol, which have maximum values of 0.14 g/L and 0.63 g/L when the carbon source is glucose, respectively.

[0157] The above results show that the Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 can degrade and utilize different carbon sources (including organic carbon sources and inorganic carbon sources); specifically, the carbon sources can be metabolized into acetic acid, ethanol, lactic acid, and hydrogen.

[0158] IV. Use of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 in Degradation of Corn Stover (Rich in Cellulose and Hemicellulose) to Produce Acetic Acid, Ethanol, and Hydrogen

[0159] Three parallel samples were set for each corn stover concentration, and results were averaged. A method included the following specific steps:

[0160] 1. 0.2 g, 0.4 g, 0.7 g, 1.0 g, and 1.4 g of the corn stover were separately added in a penicillin bottle (100 mL) containing 20 mL of an LB liquid medium, and mixed well; the bottle was vacuumized and filled with nitrogen (to maintain an anaerobic environment), and sterilized at 121° C. and 0.1 Mpa for 20 min to obtain fermentation media with a corn stover concentration of 10 g/L, 20 g/L, 35 g/L, 50 g/L, and 70 g/L in sequence.

[0161] 2. After step 1, the fermentation medium was cooled to room temperature, and 1.5 mL of a seed liquid of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 with an OD.sub.600 nm value of 1.5 was added to obtain a corresponding initial system.

[0162] 3. After step 2, the initial system was cultured at 37° C. and 180 rpm for 24 h to obtain the corresponding fermentation broth.

[0163] The gas produced during fermentation was detected using gas chromatography. The chromatographic model was SP-3420A, a column model was TDX-1 packed column, a column temperature was 160° C., a detector temperature was 160° C., a heating wire was 180° C., and high-purity nitrogen was used as a carrier gas.

[0164] The results show that hydrogen is a main product during the fermentation culture. The production and yield of hydrogen is shown in row 2 and row 3 in Table 3. Yield=hydrogen production/gas production during fermentation culture×100%.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Corn stover concentration (g/L) 10 20 35 50 70 Hydrogen production (mL/L) 94.04 ± 6.9.sup.Cc  134.91 ± 20.78.sup.Cc  295.15 ± 33.81.sup.Bb  403.41 ± 5.62.sup.Aa  348.01 ± 25.52.sup.ABb Hydrogen yield (mmol H.sub.2/g DM) 0.42 ± 0.01.sup.Aa  0.30 ± 0.03A.sup.Bbc .sup. 0.38 ± 0.02.sup.Aab .sup. 0.36 ± 0.01.sup.Aab 0.22 ± 0.02.sup.Bc Cellulose degradation rate (%) 21.35 ± 1.85.sup.Ab  21.77 ± 1.40.sup.Aab  19.62 ± 0.85.sup.Ab  23.07 ± 0.95.sup.Aa  18.29 ± 1.63.sup.Bc  Hemicellulose degradation rate (%) 5.72 ± 1.21.sup.Aa 3.22 ± 1.70.sup.Aa 5.37 ± 0.54.sup.Aa 6.93 ± 1.10.sup.Aa 0.88 ± 0.05.sup.Bb Acetic acid (g/L)  0.34 ± 0.003.sup.Cc .sup. 0.51 ± 0.07B.sup.Cb 0.62 ± 0.04.sup.Bb 1.03 ± 0.08.sup.Aa 0.93 ± 0.01.sup.Aa Ethanol (g/L) 0 ± 0.sup.Bb 0 ± 0.sup.Bb 0 ± 0.sup.Bb 0.61 ± 0.06.sup.Aa 0.64 ± 0.02.sup.Aa Note: same as table 2.

[0165] 4. After step 3, the fermentation broth was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 10 min, and a corresponding supernatant was collected.

[0166] 5. After step 4, 50 μL of a 10% (v/v) H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution was added to 2 mL of the supernatant, and mixed well; a mixture was filtered with a 0.22 μm water-based needle filter, and a corresponding filtrate was collected.

[0167] 6. The filtrate was detected by HPLC, contents of the acetic acid and ethanol in the corresponding filtrate were obtained according to the corresponding peak area and standard curve, and contents of the acetic acid and ethanol in the corresponding fermentation broth were further obtained.

[0168] The test results are row 6 and row 7 in Table 3. The results show that each fermentation broth includes acetic acid, and when the concentration of corn stover is 50 g/L, the acetic acid has the highest content; some fermentation broths include ethanol, and when the corn stover concentration is 70 g/L, the ethanol has the highest content.

[0169] 7. After step 3, the fermentation broth was subjected to detection of the degradation rates of cellulose and hemicellulose.

[0170] The test results are row 4 and row 5 in Table 3. The results show that each corn stover was degraded to a certain extent; when the concentration of corn stover is 70 g/L, the cellulose and hemicellulose each have the highest degradation rate.

[0171] The above results show that the Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 can degrade the corn stover; specifically, the corn stover can be metabolize into acetic acid, ethanol, and hydrogen.

[0172] V. Use of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 in degradation of different nitrogen sources to produce acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, and hydrogen

[0173] Corn stover: collected in suburbs of Hohhot with a kind of Huanong.

[0174] Nitrogen source to be tested 1: peptone (OXOID).

[0175] Nitrogen source to be tested 2: a yeast extract powder (Guangdong Huankai Microbial Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd.).

[0176] Nitrogen source to be tested 3: corn steep liquor (Inner Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnology Co., Ltd.).

[0177] Nitrogen source to be tested 4: a yeast powder YP-100 (Angel Yeast Co., Ltd.).

[0178] Nitrogen source to be tested 5: a yeast powder YP-600 (Angel Yeast Co., Ltd.).

[0179] Nitrogen source to be tested 6: urea (Tianjin Fengchuan Chemical Reagent Technologies Co., Ltd.).

[0180] Nitrogen source to be tested 7: ammonium sulfate (Tianjin Fuchen Chemical Reagent Factory).

[0181] Nitrogen source to be tested 8: ammonium nitrate (Tianjin Fengchuan Chemical Reagent Technologies Co., Ltd.).

[0182] Nitrogen source to be tested 9: triammonium citrate (Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd.).

[0183] Nitrogen source to be tested 1 to nitrogen source to be tested 5 were organic nitrogen sources, and nitrogen source to be tested 6 to nitrogen source to be tested 9 were inorganic nitrogen sources.

[0184] Three parallel samples were set for each nitrogen source to be tested, and results were averaged. A method included the following specific steps:

[0185] 1. A penicillin bottle (100 mL) containing 20 mL of a nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested was sterilized at 121° C. and 0.1 Mpa for 20 min to obtain a fermentation medium.

[0186] The nine nitrogen source aqueous solutions to be tested each had a nitrogen content of 0.127%. Specifically, the peptone in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 1 had a concentration of 10 g/L; the yeast extract powder in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 2 had a concentration of 14.1 g/L; the yeast powder YP-100 in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 3 had a concentration of 17.64 g/L; the yeast powder YP-600 in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 4 had a concentration of 15.88 g/L; the corn steep liquor in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 5 had a concentration of 31.75 g/L; the urea in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 6 had a concentration of 2.72 g/L; the ammonium sulfate in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 7 had a concentration of 5.99 g/L; the ammonium nitrate in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 8 had a concentration of 3.63 g/L; and the triammonium citrate in nitrogen source aqueous solution to be tested 9 had a concentration of 7.35 g/L.

[0187] 2. After step 1, the fermentation medium was cooled to room temperature, and 1.5 mL of a seed liquid of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 with an OD.sub.600. value of 1.5 was added to obtain an initial system.

[0188] 3. After step 2, the initial system was cultured at 37° C. and 180 rpm for 24 h to obtain the fermentation broth.

[0189] The gas produced during fermentation was detected using gas chromatography. The chromatographic model was SP-3420A, a column model was TDX-1 packed column, a column temperature was 160° C., a detector temperature was 160° C., a heating wire was 180° C., and high-purity nitrogen was used as a carrier gas.

[0190] The results show that hydrogen is mainly produced during the fermentation culture. The production of hydrogen is shown in row 2 in Table 4.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4-1 Nitrogen source type Yeast extract Yeast powder YP- Yeast powder YP- Peptone powder 100 600 Hydrogen production (mL/L) 373.94 ± 4.97.sup.BCb  410.28 ± 26.4.sup.ABa  355.88 ± 7.49.sup.Cbc   430.31 ± 20.05.sup.Aa  Cellulose degradation rate (%)  20.61 ± 1.64.sup.BCDc .sup. 21.16 ± 0.55.sup.B CDc 16.63 ± 0.52.sup.Dd   20.71 ± 1.93.sup.BCDc Hemicellulose degradation rate (%) 2.94 ± 0.96.sup.Bc  5.15 ± 0.55.sup.Bbc  5.5 ± 0.21.sup.Bb  3.46 ± 1.48.sup.Bbc Acetic acid (g/L) 1.14 ± 0.01.sup.Bb 1.41 ± 0.01.sup.Aa 1.11 ± 0.02.sup.Bb 1.16 ± 0.03.sup.Bb Ethanol (g/L)  0.33 ± 0.03.sup.DCd 0.39 ± 0.07.sup.Cc  1.6 ± 0.03.sup.Aa  0.4 ± 0..sup.02Cc 1,3-propanediol (g/L) 0 ± 0.sup.Ca 0.71 ± 0.01.sup.Aa 0.65 ± 0.03.sup.Aa 0.61 ± 0.01.sup.Aa Lactic acid (g/L) 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0.52 ± 0.02.sup.Bb 0.97 ± 0.06.sup.Aa Note: same as table 2.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 4-2 Nitrogen source type Corn steep Ammonium Ammonium Triammonium liquor Urea sulfate nitrate citrate Hydrogen production (mL/L) 14.87 ±2.45.sup.Fg  99.38 ± 8.18.sup.Ef  204.69 ± 5.3.sup.Dd   337.05 ± 10.31.sup.Cc  171.88 ± 1.99.sup.De   Cellulose degradation rate (%) 29.09 ± 1.65.sup.Aa  20.21 ± 2.22.sup.CDc  22.8 ± 1.5B.sup.Cbc 25.07 ± 0.87.sup.ABb  22.94 ± 0.47B.sup.Cbc Hemicellulose degradation rate (%) 14.93 ± 0.31.sup.Aa  5.48 ± 1.12.sup.Bb  5.28 ± 0.35.sup.Bbc 14.24 ± 2.16.sup.Aa   4.88 ± 1.26.sup.Bbc Acetic acid (g/L)  0.78 ± 0.001.sup.De 1.01 ± 0.07.sup.Cc 0.74 ± 0.01.sup.De 1.01 ± 0.03.sup.Cc 0.93 ± 0.01.sup.Cd Ethanol (g/L) 0 ± 0.sup.Ef   0.69 ± 0.004.sup.Bb 0 ± 0.sup.Ef  0 ± 0.sup.Ef  0.26 ± 0.01.sup.De  1,3-propanediol (g/L) 0.71 ± 0.11.sup.Aa 0.28 ± 0.04.sup.Bc .sup. 0.37 ± 0.003.sup.Bbc 0 ± 0.sup.Cd  0.4 ± 0.07.sup.Bb Lactic acid (g/L) 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0.14 ± 0.01.sup.Cc 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0 ± 0.sup.Dd 0 ± 0.sup.Dd Note: same as table 2.

[0191] 4. After step 3, the fermentation broth was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 10 min, and a supernatant was collected.

[0192] 5. After step 4, 50 μL of a 10% (v/v) H.sub.2SO.sub.4 solution was added to 2 mL of the supernatant, and mixed well; a mixture was filtered with a 0.22 μm water-based needle filter, and a filtrate was collected.

[0193] 6. The filtrate was detected by HPLC, contents of the acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol and lactic acid in the filtrate were obtained according to the corresponding peak area and standard curve, and contents of the acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol and lactic acid in the corresponding fermentation broth were further obtained.

[0194] The test results are in row 5 to row 8 in Table 4. The results show that each fermentation broth includes acetic acid, and the acetic acid has the highest content when the yeast extract powder is used as a nitrogen source; part of the fermentation broth includes ethanol, and when the yeast powder YP-100 is used as a nitrogen source, the ethanol has the highest content; part of the fermentation broth includes 1,3-propanediol, and when the corn steep liquor or yeast extract powder is used as a nitrogen source, the 1,3-propanediol has the highest content; and part of the fermentation broth includes lactic acid, and when the yeast powder YP-600 is used as a nitrogen source, the lactic acid has the highest content.

[0195] 7. After step 3, the fermentation broth was subjected to detection of the degradation rates of cellulose and hemicellulose.

[0196] The test results are row 3 and row 4 in Table 4. The results show that each nitrogen source is degraded to a certain extent; when the corn steep liquor is used as a nitrogen source, cellulose and hemicellulose each have the highest degradation rate.

[0197] The above results show that Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 CCTCC NO: M2019851 can degrade different nitrogen sources (including organic nitrogen sources and inorganic nitrogen sources); specifically, the nitrogen sources can be degraded into acetic acid, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, and hydrogen.

Example 3

Detection of Activities in Exoglucanase, Endoglucanase and β-glucosidase of Microbial Inoculant Prepared by Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3

[0198] I. Preparation of a Crude Enzyme Solution

[0199] A single colony of Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 was inoculated into a penicillin bottle containing 30 mL of an anaerobic medium with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as a substrate, and cultured at 37° C. and 180 r/min for 12 h, 24 h, 48 h or 72 h, an obtained fermentation broth was centrifuged at 6,797×g for 5 min, and a supernatant was collected.

[0200] The supernatant was the crude enzyme solution.

[0201] II. Determination of Cellulase Activity

[0202] A buffer during the determination had a pH value of 6.8.

[0203] 1. Preparation of a DNS Solution

[0204] Solution A: 3.15 g of 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid was accurately weighed into 500 mL of distilled water, 5.0 g of sodium hydroxide was added, and a mixture was stirred in a water bath at 45° C. until the solution was transparent.

[0205] Solution B: 91.0 g of potassium sodium tartrate, 2.5 g of phenol, and 2.5 g of sodium sulfite were accurately weighed into 300 mL of water, and stirred evenly.

[0206] The solution A and the solution B were mixed and diluted to 1 L with water to obtain the DNS solution.

[0207] The DNS solution was filtered into a brown bottle, and stored in the dark for 7 d before use.

[0208] 2. Plotting of a glucose standard curve

[0209] The endoglucanase could react with a substrate (a 1% CMC-Na solution) to degrade reducing sugar; the reducing sugar could react with a DNS reagent to produce amino compounds, which had an absorbance at 540 nm wavelength. Since the absorbance was proportional to a reducing sugar concentration, a standard curve was plotted with the glucose concentration as the abscissa and the absorbance at 540 nm as the ordinate.

[0210] 0.1 g of glucose dried to a constant weight was accurately weighed into a 100 mL volumetric flask, and diluted with distilled water to 100 mL to obtain a 1 mg/mL glucose standard solution. The solution was added as shown in Table 5 and mixed evenly, boiled in a water bath for 10 min, 20 mL of distilled water was added, and a wavelength at 540 nm was measured by an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 5 Tube No. Reagent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Glucose standard solution 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 (mL) Distilled water (mL) 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 DNS solution (mL) 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 Glucose content (mg) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6

[0211] FIG. 2 shows a standard curve of glucose. The results show that an equation of the glucose standard curve is: Y=0.73715X+0.007755, R.sup.2=0.998. This indicates that the standard curve meets a standard required by the correlation coefficient.

[0212] 3. Plotting of a p-nitrophenol (pNP) Standard Curve

[0213] The exoglucanase and the β-glucosidase can separately react with the substrate to liberate p-nitrophenol, and the p-nitrophenol has an absorbance at 405 nm; and a concentration of the p-nitrophenol is proportional to the absorbance at 405 nm. Therefore, a standard curve was plotted with the concentration of p-nitrophenol as the abscissa and the absorbance at 405 nm as the ordinate. 0.01 g of p-nitrophenol was diluted in a 10 mL volumetric flask to obtain a 1 mg/mL standard solution of p-nitrophenol; the solution was added as shown in Table 6 and mixed uniformly, subjected to boiling water bath for 10 min, and a wavelength at 405 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 6 No. Reagent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 pNP standard solution 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 (μL) 10% Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 solution 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 (μL) Distilled water (μL) 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 pNP content (μg) 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15

[0214] FIG. 3 shows a standard curve of p-nitrophenol. The results show that an equation of the p-nitrophenol standard curve is: Y=0.15896X+0.00982, R.sup.2=0.998. This indicates that the standard curve meets a standard required by the correlation coefficient.

[0215] 4. Determination of the exoglucanase activity of a crude enzyme solution

[0216] 6 2 mL centrifuge tubes were divided into two groups, with 3 in each group, namely an experimental group and a blank control group.

[0217] In the blank control group, 500 μL of a crude enzyme solution, 50 μL of a substrate (1 mg/mL pNPC+1 mg/mL gluconolactone) and 150 μL of a 10% Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 solution were added in sequence, and after 10 min of boiling water bath, centrifugation was conducted at 10,000 rpm for 5 min in a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge to thoroughly mix the liquid in the tube, and a wavelength at 405 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.

[0218] In the experimental group, 500 μL of the crude enzyme solution and 50 μL of the substrate (1 mg/mL pNPC+1 mg/mL gluconolactone) were added; the centrifuge tube was incubated in a 50° C. water bath for 30 min, 150 μL of the 10% Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 solution was immediately added and treated in a boiling water bath for 10 min; centrifugation was conducted at 10,000 rpm for 5 min in a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge to fully mix the liquid in the tube, and a wavelength at 405 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer; and according to the pNP standard curve, a content M.sub.sample of the p-nitrophenol in the test sample was obtained, and the exoglucanase activity of the crude enzyme solution was obtained.

[0219] Definition of the exoglucanase activity (U): 1 mL of the crude enzyme solution catalyzes the substrate (pNPC and gluconolactone) to produce 1 μg of the p-nitrophenol within 1 min at 50° C., as a unit of enzyme activity.

[0220] 5. Determination of the Endoglucanase Activity of a Crude Enzyme Solution

[0221] 6 tubes were divided into two groups, with 3 in each group, namely an experimental group and a blank control group.

[0222] In the blank control group, 500 μL of a crude enzyme solution, 1.5 mL of a substrate (1% CMC-Na solution) and 3 mL of a DNS solution were added in sequence, and distilled water was added to make the volume to 25 mL after boiling water bath for 10 min; the liquid in the tube was thoroughly mixed by shaking, and a wavelength at 540 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer. In the experimental group, 500 μL of the crude enzyme solution and 1.5 mL of the substrate (1% CMC-Na solution) were added, and the test tube was incubated in a 50° C. water bath for 30 min; 3 mL of the DNS solution was immediately added and treated in a boiling water bath for 10 min, and diluted by distilled water to 25 mL; the test tube was shaken to fully mix the liquid in the tube, and a wavelength at 540 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer; and according to the glucose standard curve, a content M.sub.sample of glucose in the sample was obtained, and the endoglucanase activity of the crude enzyme solution was obtained.

[0223] Definition of the endoglucanase activity (U): 1 mL of the crude enzyme solution catalyzes the substrate (CMC-Na) to produce 1 μg of the glucose within 1 min at 50° C., as a unit of enzyme activity. 6. Determination of the β-glucosidase activity of a crude enzyme solution

[0224] 6 2 mL centrifuge tubes were divided into two groups, with 3 in each group, namely an experimental group and a blank control group.

[0225] In the blank control group, 200 μL of a crude enzyme solution, 100 μL of a substrate (1 mg/mL pNPG) and 300 μL of a 10% Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 solution were added in sequence, and centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 5 min in a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge after 10 min of boiling water bath such that the liquid in the tube was thoroughly mixed, and a wavelength at 405 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.

[0226] In the experimental group, 200 μL of the crude enzyme solution and 50 μL of the substrate (1 mg/mL pNPG) were added; the centrifuge tube was incubated in a 50° C. water bath for 30 min, 300μL of the 10% Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 solution was immediately added and treated in a boiling water bath for 10 min; centrifugation was conducted at 10,000 rpm for 5 min in a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge to fully mix the liquid in the tube, and a wavelength at 405 nm was measured using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer; and according to the pNP standard curve, a content M.sub.sample of the p-nitrophenol in the test sample was obtained, and the β-glucosidase activity of the crude enzyme solution was obtained. Definition of the β-glucosidase activity (U): 1 mL of the crude enzyme solution catalyzes the substrate (pNPG) to produce 1 μg of the p-nitrophenol within 1 min at 50° C., as a unit of enzyme activity.

[0227] The test results are shown in FIG. 4 (where lowercase letters indicate significant differences, uppercase letters indicate extremely significant differences, different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p<0.05), and different capital letters indicate extremely significant differences (p<0.01)). The results show that the crude enzyme solution prepared in the first step has activities of the exoglucanase, the endoglucanase, and the β-glucosidase, that is, the crude enzyme solution prepared in the first step has a cellulase activity.

[0228] It can be seen that Klebsiella pneumoniae Y7-3 has the ability to secrete cellulase.