8-35: Improvement of integrated delignification and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of woody biomass by a white-rot fungus, Phlebia sp. MG-60

White-rot fungus Phlebia sp. MG-60 was identified as a good producer of ethanol from several cellulosic materials containing lignin. Therefore, we have proposed a new process of unified aerobic delignification and anaerobic saccharification and fermentation of wood by a single microorganism, the white-rot fungus Phlebia sp. MG-60. This fungus is able to selectively degrade lignin under aerobic solid state fermentation conditions, and to produce ethanol directly from delignified oak wood under semi-aerobic liquid culture conditions. After 56 d aerobic incubation, 40.7% of initial lignin and negligible glucan were degraded. Then under semi-aerobic conditions without the addition of cellulase, 43.9% of theoretical maximum ethanol was produced after 20 d. Changing from aerobic conditions (biological delignification pretreatment) to semi-aerobic conditions (saccharification and fermentation) enabled the fermentation of wood by solely biological processes. To improve the efficiency of the process, some additives such as minerals into culture was investigated to shorten the incubation time. In addition, transformation method was developed to overexpress a ligninolitic enzyme and other some related enzymes.