VARIABILITY IN THE LIGNINOLYTIC ENZYMES ACTIVITY BY LENTINULA EDODES IN SUBMERGED CULTURE WITH LIGNIN AND GLUCOSE

The white-rot basidiomycete Lentinula edodes is the second most edible mushroom cultivated on the world. This fungus decomposes cell-wall associated macromolecules, is a natural degrader of lignin polymers. The differences in enzyme activities between strains of L. edodes provided useful information about the participation of enzymes in different development stages of the fungus. The effect of lignin on the fungal biomass production and activity behavior of ligninolytic enzymes when L. edodes is cultivated in a medium containing lignin with and without glucose as a carbohydrate source was tested. When glucose was present in the culture, lignin increase the mycelial biomass by 70% at 22 days compared to the control culture. The lignin media without glucose affected mycelial growth up to 20% less that the control without lignin and glucose. The activity of laccase, lignin peroxidase, aryl alcohol oxidase, manganese dependent peroxidase and catalase was modified depending on whether the medium had lignin and glucose, or lignin alone. A carbohydrate source is important to fungal growth, but the dissolution of lignin monomers might switch the signal that controls growth rate and enzymatic activity.