NOVELTY - A thermal tolerant Gux1 peptide having a 1121 amino acid sequence, given in the specification, is new.    USE - The polypeptide is useful in the degradation of cellulose into biofuel, or for conversion of biomass to biofuel additives. It is used in detergents, pulp and paper processing, food and feed processing, and in textile processing. It can also be used alone or in combination with other cellulase or glycoside hydrolases.    ADVANTAGE - The novel polypeptide generates alternative cellulase enzymes capable of assisting in the commercial-scale processing of cellulose to sugar for use in biofuel production.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are also included for;    (1) a composition comprising a purified thermostable Gux1 peptide comprising catalytic domain GH48, carbohydrate binding domain type III, and a carbohydrate binding domain type II;    (2) producing Gux1 polypeptide by incubating a host cell genetically engineered to express the polypeptide molecule;    (3) a set of amplification primers for amplification of a polynucleotide molecule encoding Gux1 comprising at least two sequences comprising at least 9 contiguous nucleic acids derived from the polypeptide molecule;    (4) a probe for hybridizing to a polynucleotide encoding Gux1 comprising a sequence of at least 9 contiguous nucleic acids derived from the polypeptide molecule;    (5) an assay method for the detection of a polynucleotide encoding Gux1 comprising at least two sequences with a set of amplification primers comprising at least two sequences of at least9 contiguous nucleic acids derived from the polypeptide molecule, and correlating the amplified nucleic acid sequence with detected polynucleotide encoding Gux1;    (6) assessing the carbohydrate degradation activity of Gux1 by analyzing a carbohydrate in the presence or absence of Gux1, and comparing the carbohydrate degradation in the presence or absence of Gux1; and    (7) reducing cellulose in agricultural biomass by administering the novel polypeptide molecule to the biomass.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure is a schematic representation of the gene sequence and amino segment organization.