Pretreatment of White Rot Fungi Improves Saccharification of Plant Biomass

Lignin, pectin and xylan are effective barriers to cellulose extraction, and reducing them in cell walls will improve saccharification. This is the reason why microorganisms that can depolymerize lignin are of extreme interest in the biofuel industry. White rot fungi can be an effective pretreatment for lignocellulosic biomass before saccharification.

Charis Cook from the Royal Holloway University of London and a team of researchers, evaluated the effects of pretreating biomass with two white rot fungi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes cingulata. Transgenic tobacco lines with reduced lignin and transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana with reduced de-esterified homogalacturonan content were utilized for the study. Tests were also conducted to fresh Arabidopsis mutants.

The two fungi pretreatments proved to be effective in improving cellulose accessibility in biofuel feedstocks as well as in fresh material. In every material, dried or fresh, pretreatment increased.saccharification which led to easier extraction of fermentable sugars.