Sasidhara R. and T. Thirunalasundari
Lignin is probably one of the most recalcitrant compounds synthesized by plants. This compound is degraded by few microorganisms. White-rot fungi have been extensively studied due to its powerful ligninolytic enzymes. Ganoderma lucidum is one such organism that can degrade lignin and hence it was isolated and screened qualitatively by guaiacol plate assay. Spectrophotometric enzyme assays were also carried out to examine the production of laccase, manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase quantitatively. Manganese peroxidase activity of G. lucidum increased from 0.05 units/ml to 0.1 units/ml during incubation. Also high quantities of exo and endoglucanases (Cx & C1) were produced by 20th day culture. Therefore, the results of the present study allow us to conclude that wild G. lucidum is a good candidate for scale-up ligninolytic enzyme production.
