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Enhanced biodegradation of organic waste treated by environmental fungal isolates with higher cellulolytic potential

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Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural waste seems promising feedstock for biofuel production; however, its degradation to fermentable sugars is challenging. Interestingly, fungi have shown substantial potential for the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass and thus could be employed in lignocellulose-based biorefinery. Aiming at this, the current study was focused on screening the novel cellulolytic fungi from the surrounding environment. The preliminary molecular/morphological screening of 107 samples narrowed the experiment to 5 different fungi, designated: Aspergillus tubingensis AKF2, Aspergillus flavus AKF3, Pyricularia oryzae AKF4, Aspergillus nominus AKF5, and Aspergillus oryzae AKF6. The selected fungi were evaluated for their cellulolytic potential utilizing wheat straw, corn cob, and rice husk. The highest enzyme activity (CMCase: 68.2 U ml−1; FPase: 343.3 U ml−1; β-Gase: 86.3 U ml−1; xylanase: 234.6 U ml−1) was observed on the 8th day in the cultures of A. tubingensis AKF2 using wheat straw as compared to corn cob and rice husk. The total reducing sugars released after enzymatic breakdown were also high (437.05 mg g−1) in the wheat straw cultures of A. tubingensis AKF2 comprehending the higher cellulolytic activity of this fungus. To further investigate the compositional breakdown, scanning electron microscopy and FTIR were performed. Significant (LSD > 0.05) results were observed in the wheat straw cultures of A. tubingensis AKF2 with 48%, 36%, 39%, and 56% reductions in the cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and total mass contents, respectively. The superseding fungus (A. tubingensis AKF2) identified here could be further optimized for an eco-sustainable biorefinery and may have industrial applications for cellulase production.

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Funding

This study was supported by the “Akhuwat Foundation,” a non-profit micro-finance organization working in Pakistan for the welfare of humanity. Akhuwat started working in 2001 to provide a small interest-free loan to poor families enabling them to become self-reliant. To fulfill the dream of a poverty-free society, Akhuwat started to provide “free education” to deserving students from all over Pakistan. Akhuwat-FIRST is one of the leading research institutes in Pakistan supported by “Akhuwat Foundation.”

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  1. Amir Hameed

    Present address: Plant and Biofuel Group, Department of Biotechnology, Akhuwat-Faisalabad Institute of Research Science and Technology, 250 RB Abbaspur, University Park, Faisalabad, Pakistan

  2. Muhammad Awais and Shabih Fatma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant and Biofuel Group, Department of Biotechnology, Akhuwat-Faisalabad Institute of Research Science and Technology, 250 RB Abbaspur, University Park, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Awais, Ahad Naveed, Uzma Batool & Qamar Shehzad

  2. Fermentation Technology Group, Technical Services Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), PO Box 577, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Shabih Fatma

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  1. Muhammad Awais
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Highlights

• Fungi collected from the environment and prescreening through CMC-agar staining and ITS sequencing resulted in 5 different fungal isolates with cellulase activity.

• The selected fungi were evaluated for the enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw, rice straw, and corn cob through lignocellulolytic enzyme assays.

• Compositional and structural modifications of biodegraded wheat straw proofread the higher cellulolytic activity of fungi.

• The potential fungus “Aspergillus tubingensis AKF2” identified in this study have a great capacity for lignocellulose biodegradation and could be promising for biofuel extraction.

Supplementary Information

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13399_2021_1932_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary file1 Morphological characterization of the 20 different fungi (AKF1-AKF20) taken after 5 days of culture on PDA Petri plates. (JPG 161 KB)

13399_2021_1932_MOESM2_ESM.jpg

Supplementary file2 A: Molecular confirmation of 5 fungi (AKF2, AKF3, AKF4, AKF5, AKF6) for the ITS band (500–700 bp). B: CMC-agar plates with clearing halo (diameter) of hydrolysis. (JPG 51 KB)

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Awais, M., Fatma, S., Naveed, A. et al. Enhanced biodegradation of organic waste treated by environmental fungal isolates with higher cellulolytic potential. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01932-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01932-w

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