Direct ethanol production from cellulosic materials by consolidated biological processing using the wood rot fungus Schizophyllum commune.

In the present study, ethanol production from polysaccharides or wood chips was conducted in a single reactor under anaerobic conditions using the white rot fungus Schizophyllum commune NBRC 4928, which produces enzymes that degrade lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The ethanol yields produced from glucose and xylose were 80.5%, and 52.5%, respectively. The absolute yields of ethanol per microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), xylan and arabinogalactan were 0.26g/g-MCC, 0.0419g/g-xylan and 0.0508g/g-arabinogalactan, respectively. By comparing the actual ethanol yields from polysaccharides with monosaccharide fermentation, it was shown that the rate of saccharification was slower than that in fermentation. S. commune NBRC 4928 is concluded to be suitable for CBP because it can produce ethanol from various types of sugar. From the autoclaved cedar chip, only little ethanol was produced by S. commune NBRC 4928 alone but ethanol production was enhanced by combined use of ethanol fermenting and lignin degrading fungi.