Construction of a fungal consortium for effective degradation of rice straw lignin and potential application in bio-pulping

To improve the lignin degradation efficiency, we established a co-culture consortium (LDFC) consisting of Trametes hirsuta BYL-3, Trametes versicolor BYL-7 and Trametes hirsuta BYL-8. The testing results showed that the constructed consortium showed improved the lignin degradation rate by fungi. The optimal cultivation condi-tions were mixture at 1:1:1 vol ratio of each fungus, 7% (w/v) of inoculum amount, culture temperature at 26 degrees C, pH was 6.9 and 10 days of culturing time. Under these conditions, the degradation rate of lignin was 39.7%, which was 9.3% higher than those before optimization (30.4%). Using rice straw for treatment by LDFC to papermaking, the paper tensile strength was 8 N, and the ring pressure index was 2.46 N.m/g, which meets the standards for the production of corrugated paper for packaging. These results indicate that LDFC has potential application value to convert rice straw resources for bio-pulping to make papers.

Automated summary

The established LDFC co-culture consortium improved the lignin degradation rate by fungi, with an optimal cultivation condition of a 1:1:1 vol ratio of each fungus resulting in a 39.7% lignin degradation rate. Papermaking using LDFC-treated rice straw produced paper with a tensile strength of 8N and a ring pressure index of 2.46 N.m/g, meeting standards for corrugated paper production.