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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bioenergy Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #320977
Research Project: Develop Technologies for Production of Platform Chemicals and Advanced Biofuels from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

Location: Bioenergy Research

Title: Biological pretreatment of corn stover with white-rot fungus for improved enzymatic hydrolysis

Author
item Saha, Badal
item Qureshi, Nasib
item Kennedy, Gregory - Greg
item Cotta, Michael

Submitted to: International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2015
Publication Date: 1/6/2016
Citation: Saha, B.C., Qureshi, N., Kennedy, G.J., Cotta, M.A. 2016. Biological pretreatment of corn stover with white-rot fungus for improved enzymatic hydrolysis. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation. 109:29-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ibiod.2015.12.020.

Interpretive Summary: Biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass by white-rot fungus can represent a low-cost and eco-friendly alternative to harsh physical, chemical or physico-chemical pretreatment methods to facilitate enzymatic hydrolysis. However, fungal pretreatment can cause carbohydrate loss and it is, therefore, necessary to use the appropriate fungal strain-biomass type combination. In this work, 26 white-rot fungal strains were evaluated under solid state cultivation for fermentable sugar production from corn stover after enzymatic hydrolysis of each fungal pretreated corn stover. The research demonstrates that some white-rot fungal pretreatment can be used to improve the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover.

Technical Abstract: Biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass by white-rot fungus can represent a low-cost and eco-friendly alternative to harsh physical, chemical or physico-chemical pretreatment methods to facilitate enzymatic hydrolysis. However, fungal pretreatment can cause carbohydrate loss and it is, therefore, necessary to use the appropriate fungal strain-biomass type combination. In this work, 26 white-rot fungal strains were evaluated under solid state cultivation at 74% moisture level at 28 deg C for 30 days for fermentable sugar production from corn stover after enzymatic hydrolysis of each fungal pretreated corn stover using a cocktail of 3 commercial enzyme (cellulase, ß-glucosidase, hemicellulase) preparations. The best result was obtained with Cyathus stercoreus NRRL-6573 which gave a sugar yield of 394±13 mg/g of pretreated stover followed by Pycnoporus sanguineus FP-10356-Sp (393±17 mg/g) and Phlebia brevispora NRRL-13108 (383±13 mg/g).