Fungi in Consolidated Bioprocessing of Lignocellulosic Materials

Abstract

Second generation biorefineries are based on the efficient exploitation of the carbon stored in lignocellulosic biomass. Many fungal genera have the capacity to enzymatically degrade lignocellulose, while other can transform the resulting degradation products into compounds of economical value, such as biofuels. The possibility of performing both tasks in a single vessel and, ideally, by a single microbial strain is described by the term consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). This strategy is in principle applicable to the production of a broad range of compounds using plant biomass as raw material. In this chapter we will discuss the progress, problems, and prospects of CBP systems that exploit fungal species as their main biocatalyst. Since most of the relevant research has been conducted toward the production of bioethanol, our approach will focus on the efforts to either engineer ethanologenic strains for cellulase and hemicellulase production or to increase the fermentative capacity of natural biomass degraders. Finally, we will give an overview of fungal lignocellulose CBP processes for the production of additional higher value-added chemicals.