One of the costliest inputs in lignocellulosic biofuel production are the enzymes used to pretreat feedstocks (e.g. plant cell walls in agricultural and forestry wastes) prior to fermentation. Pretreatment removes fermentation inhibitors such as lignin and xylans and releases fermentable sugars from cellulose (i.e. saccharification). Cultivated oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) are white rot wood decay fungi, which subsist on lignocellulose. We found that a strain of P. ostreatus inoculated on hydrated switchgrass straw reduced its lignin content and improved bioethanol yields. Thus, with optimization, inoculated oyster mushroom mycelia could provide an inexpensive pretreatment of lignocellulosic feedstocks.
Slavens S, Marek SM, Wilkins MR. 2019. Effects of copper, manganese, and glucose on the induction of ligninolytic enzymes produced by Pleurotus ostreatus during fungal pretreatment of switchgrass. Transactions of the ASABE 62(6):1673-1681. https://dx.doi.org/10.13031/trans.13446
Li M, Marek SM, Peng J, Liu Z, Wilkins MR. 2018. Effect of moisture content and inoculum size on cell wall composition and ethanol yield from switchgrass after solid-state Pleurotus ostreatus treatment. Transactions of the ASABE 61(6):1997-2006. https://dx.doi.org/10.13031/trans.12981
