Development of compatible lignocellulolytic fungal consortium for rapid composting of rice straw

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of lignocellulolytic fungi for rapid composting of rice straw Forty-nine isolates of fungi were isolated from several natural and induced rice straw composting sources Ten isolates were tested for their potential to decompose lignocellulosic rice straw by assessing their growth rate and biomass production as well as their ability to decompose lignin and cellulose on rice-straw-powder-amended media Four isolates (F26 F28 F29 and F44) were selected as potential lignocellulolytic agents for in-vitro compatibility study based on their optimum growth rate biomass production and lignocellulolytic activities Six different interactions were found among four interacting isolates in the form of mutual intermingling partial mutual intermingling and inhibition at the contact point Finally a consortium of Aspergillus niger (F44) and Trichoderma viride (F26) was tested for in-vitro biodegradation of rice straw The fungal consortium was able to decompose cellulose hemicelluloses lignin and total carbon significantly (p <= 0 05) over the control The C/N ratio was reduced to 19 5 from an initial value of 29 3 in three weeks of the biodegradation process thus showing the potential of this method for use in large-scale composting of rice straw (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved