Enzyme Activity Profiles Produced on Wood and Straw by Four Fungi of Different Decay Strategies.

Four well-studied saprotrophic 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 species, the white rot fungus and brown rot fungus , as well as one species, the intermediate "grey" rot fungus , were cultivated on birch wood pieces for 12 weeks, whereas the second species, the litter-decomposing fungus was cultivated on barley straw for 6 weeks under laboratory conditions. During 3 months of growth on birch wood, only the white rot fungus produced high laccase and MnP activities. The brown rot fungus 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 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 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.