POTENTIAL OF SELECTED MICROMYCETES FOR WHEAT STRAW DEGRADATION

For the last several years, there is an increasing research interest for lignocellulosic biomass because of its renewable nature. Wheat straw, as one of the most abundant plant wastes, could potentially be transformed into various high valued products (food, feed, paper, biofuel). Micromycetes play an important role in lignocellulose conversion owing to their powerfull enzymatic system. They posses different potentials to synthetise lignocelullolytic enzymes and degrade biomass. Therefore, the objectives of this study were determination of Mn-oxidising peroxidases and laccases activities and extent of wheat straw depolymerisation during solid-state fermentation by selected micromycetes species/strains. The highest Mn-dependent- and Mn-independent peroxidases activities were noted in Clonostachys rosea BEOFB 1610m on day 14 of cultivation (210.23 and 303.03 U l(-1), respectively), while Alternaria sp. BEOFB 202m was the unique producer of laccase which maximum activity (1558.59 U l(-1)) was observed after 7 days of wheat straw fermentation. After 21 days of wheat straw depolymerisation, the highest level of lignin degradation was caused by C. rosea BEOFB 1610m (13.67%), while Alternaria sp. BEOFB 202m was the most efficient hemicellulose and cellulose degrader (38.1 and 29.8%, respectively). These data demonstrate that studied fungal species/strains could potentially be used in various biotechnological processes for the plant raw materials transformation.