Isolation and Identification of some Clostridium spp. from Decaying Wood and Study of their Ability to Produce Ethanol from Different Kinds of Wood

In this study we isolated and identified two species of bacteria degrading cellulose and semicellulose; C. cellulovorans and C. cellulolyticum of decaying wood samples, which were obtained from different parts of Mosul city.
The study showed that C. cellulovorans had the ability to ferment Lithocarpus sp.and produce ethanol within 24 hours from the start of incubation, and came in second place each of Santalum sp., Betula sp. and Eucalyptus sp. within 48 hours and finally came Pinus sp., Quercus sp., Populus sp. and Spruce sp. within 96 hours.
The study also demonstrated that the bacteria C. cellulolyticum produced ethanol from Lithocarpus sp., Santalum sp., Betula sp. and Spruce sp. within 24 hours of incubation and came in second place Pinus sp., Quercus sp., Populus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. after 48 hours of incubation.