Screening and Production of Ligninolytic Enzyme by a Marine-Derived Fungal Pestalotiopsis sp. J63

Abstract

Marine-derived fungi are prone to produce structurally unique secondary metabolites, a considerable number of which display the promising biological properties and/or industrial applications. Among those, ligninolytic enzymes have attracted great interest in recent years. In this work, about 20 strains were isolated from sea mud samples collected in the East China Sea and then screened for their capacity to produce lignin-degrading enzymes. The results showed that a strain, named J63, had a great potential to secrete a considerable amount of laccase. Using molecular method, it was identified as an endophytic fungus, Pestalotiopsis sp. which was rarely reported as ligninolytic enzyme producer in the literature. The production of laccase by Pestalotiopsis sp. J63 was investigated under submerged fermentation (SF) and solid state fermentation (SSF) with various lignocellulosic by-products as substrates. The SSF of rice straw powder accumulated the highest level of laccase activity (10,700 IU/g substrate), whereas the SF of untreated sugarcane bagasse provided the maximum amount of laccase activity (2,000 IU/ml). The value was far higher than those reported by other reports. In addition, it produced 0.11 U/ml cellulase when alkaline-pretreated sugarcane bagasse was used as growth substrate under SF. Meanwhile, the growth of fungi and laccase production under different salinity conditions were also studied. It appeared to be a moderately halo-tolerant organism.

Characterization of lignocellulolytic activities from fungi isolated from the deep-sea sponge Stelletta normani

“…Many studies report the ability of marine-derived fungi to produce different metabolites when they are grown on agro-based residues under SSF conditions [41–43]. Additionally, many reports describe lignocellulolytic enzyme production by marine-derived and sponge-derived fungi growing on agro-based residues in the absence or near absence of free water [44,45]. Finally, there are also some reports demonstrating that the marine-derived fungus Pestalitiopsis sp.…”

“…Finally, there are also some reports demonstrating that the marine-derived fungus Pestalitiopsis sp. J63 is capable of enzyme production in SSF [46], with ligninolytic enzymes being produced [45]. Thus, SSF is an appropriate technology to investigate the potential of marine-derived fungi as a source of lignocellulolytic enzymes and other fungal metabolites.…”

Screening of lignin-degrading fungi for their ability to decay cassava residue

“…Positive fungi showed red in guaiacol-containing plates or/and decolorization zones in azure B-containing plates [18,19]. In the present study, nineteen lignin-degrading fungi were screened out, two fungi had a positive reaction on both guaiacol and azure B plates, while six fungi had a positive reaction on guaiacol plate and eleven fungi had a positive reaction on azure B plate.…”

“…Lignin-degrading fungi would make the guaiacol become red or azure B dye decolorization [18,19]. After ten days of incubation, isolates exhibiting diffusible guaiacol-reddening or azure B decolorization zone were lignin-degrading fungi.…”

“…The PCR products were separated in agarose (1.5%, w/v�� gels using Tris-borate (TBE�� buffer, and were directly sequenced by Sangon Biotech Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Sequences were subjected to BLAST searching using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI�� database, and phylogenetic position was inferred [8,19] …”