Sugarcane bagasse degradation and characterization of three white-rot fungi

In order to investigate the details of lignin biodegradation, the characteristics and process of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) degradation by three lignin degrading fungi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium PC2, Lentinula edode LE16 and Pleurotus ostreatus PO45, were studied. We found that the ligninolytic enzymes polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and manganese peroxidase (MnP) were produced first, and that the cellulolytic enzyme CMCase was produced subsequently. These three fungi were more efficient to degrade lignin (85–93%) than hemicelluloses (64–88%) and cellulose (15–67%) in 12 weeks, in which P. chrysosporium PC2 was the most efficient strain to degrade all the ingredients. Results of the FTIR and CP/MAS 13C NMR revealed that the three fungi preferentially degraded syringyl units. The PPO and MnP as the main ligninolytic enzymes, especially the presence of PPO, were new findings in this study, which improved our knowledge of biopretreatment of SCB and evidenced these strains as valuable resource for SCB biotransformation.