Carboxymethylcellulase from Lenzites saepiaria, a brown-rotter.

Three wood-rotting fungi namely, Lenzites saepiaria, Polyporus xeranticus and Trametes gibbosa, were screened as cellulose-degraders from 20 different genera of both brown and white-rotters of Polyporaceae on the basis of their potential to degrade carboxymethylcellulose. The utilization of different carbon sources in the growth medium was studied with these fungi for identification of enzymes involved in saccharification. Carboxymethylcellulase and beta-glucosidase were identified as the two major enzymes involved in this process. Extracellular carboxymethylcellulase from L. saepiaria was purified to homogeneity and the enzyme partially characterized.