IntroductionPsychrotolerants are a more diverse group than true psychrophiles. The habitat of the latter is permanent cold regions, whereas the former can thrive in cold regions and also where mesophiles grow. The optimum and maximum growth temperatures for psychrotolerants are ≥15 °C and ≤40 °C, respectively (Morita and Moyer, 2001). Psychrotolerants can be found in deep oceans, Antarctica, the Arctic, high mountains, and man-made refrigerated systems (Russell and Cowan, 2006). There are few reports of psychrotolerant bacteria (Baghel et al., 2005;Maharana and Ray, 2013) and microfungi (Nazir et al., 2010;Maharana and Ray, 2014a) from the soil of India. The temperature of Jammu, India (32.73°N, 74.87°E) rarely reaches 37 °C and temperatures in the winter months occasionally fall below freezing.Extremozymes are seen to have immense future application in various fields of science. Enzymes from psychrotolerants are more adaptable than those from mesophiles and psychrophiles due to their wider range of temperature stability. Cold-active enzymes (CAEs) like lipase, cellulase, amylase, and protease produced from psychrotolerants are widely used in many industries, like the detergent, food, and textile industries; moreover, there is a high need for CAEs for biodegradation and bioremediation purposes in cold regions (Margesin and Schinner, 1999). Carboxymethyl cellulases (CMCase) or endoglucanases (EGs) (β-1,4-endoglucanase, EC 3.2.1.4) are inducible enzymes that are synthesized by microorganisms during their growth on cellulosic materials. In the textile industry, cold-active endoglucanases (CAEGs) can be used to remove unwanted extra fibrils from clothes so that the fabric is smoother and the clothes have increased longevity (Kumar et al., 2011). A higher temperature (60-70 °C) is needed for the saccharification of cellulose slurry and so more energy is consumed, which can be saved by the introduction of CAEGs to the slurry. Most reports of EGs were from fungi rather than bacteria and several researchers have reported on EGs produced from