Enzyme activity profiles produced on wood and straw by four fungi of different decay strategies

Eliana Estefanía Veloz Villavicencio, Tuulia Mali, Hans Mattila, Taina Lundell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Four well-studied saprotrophic Basidiomycota Agaricomycetes species with different decay strategies were cultivated on solid lignocellulose substrates to compare their extracellular decomposing carbohydrate-active and lignin-attacking enzyme production profiles. Two Polyporales species, the white rot fungus Phlebia radiata and brown rot fungus Fomitopsis pinicola, as well as one Agaricales species, the intermediate “grey” rot fungus Schizophyllum commune, were cultivated on birch wood pieces for 12 weeks, whereas the second Agaricales species, the litter-decomposing fungus Coprinopsis cinerea was cultivated on barley straw for 6 weeks under laboratory conditions. During 3 months of growth on birch wood, only the white rot fungus P. radiata produced high laccase and MnP activities. The brown rot fungus F. pinicola demonstrated notable production of xylanase activity up to 43 nkat/mL on birch wood, together with moderate β-glucosidase and endoglucanase cellulolytic activities. The intermediate rot fungus S. commune was the strongest producer of β-glucosidase with activities up to 54 nkat/mL, and a notable producer of xylanase activity, even up to 620 nkat/mL, on birch wood. Low lignin-attacking but moderate activities against cellulose and hemicellulose were observed with the litter-decomposer C. cinerea on barley straw. Overall, our results imply that plant cell wall decomposition ability of taxonomically and ecologically divergent fungi is in line with their enzymatic decay strategy, which is fundamental in understanding their physiology and potential for biotechnological applications.
Original languageEnglish
Article number73
JournalMicroorganisms
Volume8
Issue number1
Number of pages18
ISSN2076-2607
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 414 Agricultural biotechnology
  • Wood biodegradation
  • Waste biomass
  • 11831 Plant biology
  • Basidiomycota
  • wood decay fungi
  • lignocellulose
  • biodegradation
  • carbohydrate active enzymes
  • laccase
  • manganese peroxidase
  • enzyme activity assays
  • organic acids
  • oxalic acid
  • COPRINOPSIS-CINEREA
  • GENOME SEQUENCE
  • LIGNIN
  • DEGRADATION
  • MECHANISMS
  • EVOLUTION
  • fungal enzymes
  • enzyme activeity profile

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