• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 1989

A bacterial strain capable of producing high level of extracellular xylanase was isolated from soil. The characteristics of the isolated strain No.236 were identified to be Bacillus stearothermophilus. The maximal xylanase production was observed in the medium containing 0.75% xylan, 0.35% yeast extract, 1.06% $K_2$HPO$_4$and 0.05% CaCO$_3$with initial pH of 6.5 when the strain was cultured at 5$0^{\circ}C$ for 28 hrs with reciprocal shaking. Hydrolysis of xylan by the xylanase revealed that xylose was the only product of the reaction. This suggested that the enzyme produced by Bacillus stearothermophilus No. 236 was an exe-acting xylanase.