Diversity of Exopolysaccharide Producing Fungi from Foot Hills of Shivalik Ranges of Chandigarh Capital Region

In this investigation, the diversity of exopolysaccharide producing fungi of foot hillsof Shivalik ranges of Chandigarh capital region have been studied. The study resulted inisolation of a total of 94 fungal isolates of which 52 isolates belonging to 17 different generaviz., Agaricus, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Candida, Curvullaria, Chaetomium,Fusarium, Ganoderma, Penicillium, Pleurotus, Polyporous, Rhizopus, Saccharomyces,Stemophylium, Termitomyces, and Tricholoma etc. were found to possess the EPS producingpotential. These isolates have been categorized into five different groups on the basis of theEPS quantities they produced. These included Group I with production range of : > 1g/l ;Group II with production range of : 1-2 g/l ; Group III with production range of : 2-3 g/l ;Group IV with production range of : 3-4 g/l and Group V with production range of : 4-5 g/l.Out of these 52 EPS producing isolates, 11 were found to be the prominent producers withAuerobasidium RYLF 10 as the most potential isolate with EPS concentration of 4.60g/lfollowed by the species of Penicillium RYLF 35, Aspergillus RYLF 17 and Ganoderma RYMF15. No correlation between EPS concentration and the biomass yield could be traced.