Lignin peroxidase is involved in the biobleaching of manganese-less oxygen-delignified hardwood kraft pulp by white-rot fungi in the solid-fermentation system

Biobleaching of manganese-less oxygen-delignified hardwood kraft pulp (E-OKP) by the white-rot fungi Phaneroehaete sordida YK-624 and P. chrysosporium was examined in the solid-state fermentation system. P. sordida YK-624 possessed a higher brightening activity than P. chrysosporium, increasing pulp brightness by 13.4 points after seven days of treatment. In these fermentation systems, lignin peroxidase (LiP) activity was detected as the principle ligninolytic enzyme, and manganese peroxidase and laccase activities were scarcely detected over the course of treatment of E-OKP by either fungus. Moreover, a linear relationship between brightness increase and cumulative UP activity was observed under all tested culture conditions with P. sordida YK-624 and P. chrysosporium. These results indicated that UP is involved in the brightening of E-OKP by both white-rot fungi. (C) 2004 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.