Acanthophysium sp. KMF001, a New Strain with High Cellulase Activity

Abstract

Cellulase is an eco-friendly biocatalyst, and its demand is growing in many industrial applications such as food, textile, paper, and bioenergy. Strains with a high cellulase activities are the starting point for the economic production of cellulase. In a previous study, Acanthophysium sp. KMF001 with high cellulase production ability was selected among 54 wood-rotting fungi. In this study, we evaluated the cellulase productivity of Acanthophysium sp. KMF001 quantitatively and analyzed its taxonomic location using a genetic method. Acanthophysium sp. KMF001 showed high cellulase productivity similar to that of Acanthophysium bisporum and was much better than A. bisporum in specific enzyme activity. The 28S rRNA sequence of Acanthophysium sp. KMF001 was similar to that of Acanthophysium lividocaeruleum MB1825, with 98.40% homology. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Acanthophysium sp. KMF001 is a new strain. In this study, we propose a new strain with high cellulase productivity.