Lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural residues (straws, hulls, and stover) has the potential to replace starch as a feedstock for the fermentative production of fuels and chemicals, but recalcitrance to depolymerization remains a significant technical barrier to its widespread commercial use.  There is a need for environmentally friendly pretreatment strategies with efficient enzyme systems that convert these feedstocks into fermentable sugars.  Acremonium zeae is one of the most prevalent fungal colonists of preharvest maize, producing symptomless infections of seeds and inhabiting the stalks of mature plants.  When cultured on artificial media, A. zeae grows most vigorously on medium containing corn cob xylan, suggesting that A. zeae might be a source of hemicellulolytic enzymes uniquely adapted for the utilization of corn cell wall components.  An examination of A. zeae grown on corn fiber found that it possesses a full complement of hemicellulolytic enzymes including xylanases, xylosidases, and arabinofuranosidases capable of releasing greater than 90% of xylose and arabinose from corn cob and wheat arabinoxylans.   Some of these enzyme activities are thermophilic, with optimal temperatures above 65°C, and may be developed for industrial application in the biofuels industry.  Characterizations of the hemicellulolytic enzymes will be presented and their potential for use in thermophilic fermentation processes will be discussed.