Summary
During growth of Pleurotus on cotton straw both the straw in general and the lignin in particular were degraded. After 4 days of fungal growth, activity of laccase, catechol oxidase, peroxidase, and cellulase were detected. This activity, however, declined rapidly after 8–10 days of growth.
Lignin degradation began after 10 days and reached a maximum after 21 days. It would seem that the preliminary action of laccase is a prerequisite for lignin degradation.
The Pleurotus ostreatus strain ‘P3’ had no detectable laccase activity and showed very poor ability to degrade cotton straw and lignin.
Water extract of cotton straw was found to be a potent inducer of laccase in liquid medium and had an effect much stronger than several small phenolic compounds. The degradation of washed cotton straw and lignin from this straw was lower than native straw, so was laccase activity on this medium. High carbon dioxide concentrations encouraged straw degradation by P. ostreatus ‘florida’ but severly limited lignin degradation. Other fungi including the known lignin degrader Phanarochaete chrysosporium were able to degrade up to 40% of cotton straw dry weight within 21 days of fungal growth. The percentage degradation of lignin, however, was very low (only 10% in 21 days). Pleurotus ostreatus ‘florida’ was able to degrade up to 56% of the lignin within this time.
After treatment with P. ostreatus ‘florida’ almost four times as much glucose was released when the straw was treated with commercial cellulases, showing increased availability of cellulose.
It is suggested that treatment with P. ostreatus ‘florida’ may be used to enrich low value food materials for ruminant animals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ander P, Eriksson KE (1976) The importance of phenol-oxidase activity in lignin degradation by the white-rot fungus Sporotrichum pulverulentum. Arch Microbiol 109: 1–8
Block SS, Tsao G, Han L (1959) Experiments in the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus. Mushroom Sci 4: 309–325
Chang SC, Steinkraus KH (1982) Lignocellulolytic enzymes produced by Volvariella volvacea, the edible straw mushroom. Appl Environ Microbiol 43: 440–446
Davidson RW, Campbell WA, Blaisdell DJ (1938) Differentiation of wood-decaying fungi by their reactions on gallic or tannic acid medium. J Agric Res 57: 683–695
Effland MJ (1977) Modified procedure to determine acid-insoluble lignin in wood and pulp. Tappi 60: 143–144
Eggeling L (1983) Lignin — an exceptional biopolymer and a rich resource? Trends in Biotechnol 1: 123–127
Glenn JK, Gold MH (1983) Decolorization of several polymeric dyes by the lignin degrading basidiomycete Phanarochaete chrysosporium. Appl Environ Microbiol 45: 1741–1747
Haars A, Chet I, Huttermann A (1981) Effects of phenolic compounds and tannin on growth and laccase activity of Fomes annosus. Eur J For Pathol 11: 67–76
Haars A, Huttermann A (1983) Laccase induction in the white-rot fungus Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. (Fomes annosus Fr. Cooke). Arch Microbiol 134: 309–313
Ishihara T (1981) The role of laccase in lignin biodegradation. In: Kirk TK, Higuchi T, Chang H (eds) Lignin biodegradation: microbiology, chemistry and potential application, vol II. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 17–34
Kirk TK (1983) Degradation and conversion of lignocelluloses. In: Smith JE, Berry, DR, Kristiansen B (eds) The filamentous fungi, vol. 4, Fungal technology. Edward Arnold, London, pp 266–295
Kirk TK, Connors WJ, Zeikus JG (1976) Requirement for a growth substrate during lignin decomposition by two wood rotting fungi. Appl Environ Microbiol 32: 192–194
Law L (1959) A role of the laccase of wood rotting fungi. Physiol Plant 12: 854–861
Lindensfelser LA, Detroy RW, Ramstack JM, Worden KA (1979) Biological modification of the lignin and cellulose components of wheat straw by Pleurotus ostreatus. Dev Ind Microbiol 20: 541–551
Lobarzewski J, Trojanowski J, Woytas-Wasilewska M (1982) The effect of fungal peroxidase on Na-lignosulfonates. Holzforschung 36: 173–176
Milstein OA, Vered Y, Sharma A, Gressel J, Flowers HM (1983) Fungal biodegradation and biotransformation of soluble lignocarbohydrate complex from straw. Appl Environ Microbiol 46: 55–61
Noguchi A, Shimada M, Higuchi T (1980) Studies on lignin biodegradation. 1. Possible role of non-specific oxidation by laccase. Holzforschung 34: 86–89
Platt MW, Trojanowski J, Chet I, Huttermann A (1982) Differences in the degradation of specifically 14C-labelled lignin model compounds within the Pleurotus sp. group. Microbiol Lett 23: 19–21
Platt MW, Hadar Y, Henis Y, Chet I (1983) Increased degradation of straw by Pleurotus ostreatus sp. ‘florida’. Eur J Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 17: 140–142
Schnurer J, Rosswall T (1982) Fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis as a measure of total microbial activity in soil and litter. Appl Environ Microbiol 43: 1256–1261
Sigma (1979) Assay reagents and procedure. Peroxidase. Bulletin 2–79. Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA
Streeter CL, Conway KE, Horn GW (1981) Effect of Pleurotus ostreatus and Erwinia caratovora on wheat straw digestability. Mycologia 73: 1040–1048
Tien M, Kirk TK (1983) Lignin degrading enzyme from Hymenomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Burds. Science 221: 661–662
Van Soest PJ, Robertson JB (1980) Systems of analysis for evaluating fibrous feeds. In: Pigden WJ, Balah CC, Graham M (eds) Standardization of analytical methodology for feeds. Int Devel Res Cen, Ottawa, Canada, pp 49–60
Zadrazil F (1978) The cultivation of Pleurotus. In: Chang S, Hayes W (eds) The biology and cultivation of edible mushrooms. Academic Press, New York, pp 521–524
Zadrazil F, Brunnet H (1982) Solid state fermentation of lignocellulose containing plant residues with Sporotrichum pulverulentum and Dichomitus squaleris. Eur J Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 16: 45–51
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Platt, M.W., Hadar, Y. & Chet, I. Fungal activities involved in lignocellulose degradation by Pleurotus . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 20, 150–154 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00252594
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00252594