Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The biodiversity of our tropical countries offers countless opportunities; especially taking in account that microorganisms along the time have supported different industrial applications in areas as pharmacology, agroindustry, bioprocess, environmental technology and bioconversion. For this reason, Schizophyllum commune, a wide broad fungus, was collected and grown in liquid medium containing Carboxymethyl-cellulose (CMC 1%) and bamboo lignocellulosic fibers during 20 days of cell culturing. Statistical difference was found between treatments with and without addition of CMC (p ≤ 0.05) demonstrating an inductor effect on cellulase activity. The results show two peaks of β-glycosidase activity at 5 and 17 day of culturing. Additionally, a partial characterization of xylanase, laccase, mannanase, endoglucanase, exoglucanase, pectinase and β-glycosidase activity was realized. By using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the physical mechanism that this fungus uses to infect bamboo was observed in fibers treated and untreated with enzymatic extracts; showing structural disruption and infection of the vascular bundles, parenchyma cells and parenchymatous tissues. The exploring of our biodiversity is an imperative necessity in order to find potential substrates to grow wild fungus and searching for alternative energy sources.
Key words: Schizophyllum commune, SEM, Infection, Bamboo, Lignocellulosic substrate.