In the present study, the leaf litter soil samples were collected from ten different locations of Kattalagarkovil (Tamilnadu, India). The soil samples were serially diluted and plated on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar (SDA). The fungal strains were identified based on the morphology using Lacto phenol cotton blue mount and cellulase producing fungi were confirmed by Congo red method. The potential cellulase producing fungal strain was confirmed as Aspergillus sp. by colony morphology on Sabouraud’s Dextrose agar plate and Lacto Phenol Cotton Blue Staining. The potential cellulase producing fungi was identified as Aspergillus niger by 18S rRNA sequencing. The fungal gene sequence was submitted in NCBI with the accession Number MF621961.In this study optimum parameters for cellulase production by Aspergillus niger using central composite design (CCD) model was analyzed. The optimal level of the key variables (pH, temperature, peptone and KCl) was used to determine the effect of their interactions on cellulase production using the statistical tool (CCD). At these optimized conditions the maximum cellulase production was found to be 0.977 IU/ml.
