Kinetics of Enhanced Substrate Consumption and Endo-β-xylanase Production by a Mutant Derivative of Humicola lanuginosa in Solid-state Fermentation

Summary

Industrial byproducts namely canola meal, rice bran, sunflower meal, and wheat straw were used as substrates for endo-xylanase production by Humicola lanuginosemutant TH1 through solid substrate fermentation. The enzyme was secreted extracellularly by both wild and mutant cultures. Rice bran supported the maximum production of endo-xylanase followed by wheat straw, canola meal and sunflower meal. The highest activity was achieved after 72 h of culture and the highest yields from the above substrates were 842, 840, 610 and 608 IU per g substrate consumed respectively. The highest productivity (281 IU flask⁻¹ h⁻¹ corresponding to 5620 l⁻¹ h^-1) of endo-xylanase by the mutant of H. lanuginosa was 1.6-fold more than that produced by the parental organism in solid-state fermentation of rice bran at 45 °C. Maximum specific activity (180 IU mg⁻¹ protein) and substrate consumption rates were significantly more than those reported by previous researchers on Humicola sp. The mutant possessed markedly low accompanying cellulase activity. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the mutant required significantly lower activation energy for enzyme production and higher for thermal inactivation which signified that the endogenous metabolic machinery of mutant cells exerted more protection against thermal inactivation during product formation than that needed by its parental cultures.