Catalytic Performance Of Corn Stover Hydrolysis By A New Isolate Penicillium Sp. ECU0913 Producing Both Cellulase And Hemicellulase Titers

A fungus strain, producing high activities of both cellulase and hemicellulase, was isolated from soil sample and identified as Penicillium sp. ECU0913. The culture of this strain produced cellulase of 2.40 FPU/ml and hemicellulase of 241 IU/ml using a stepwisely optimized medium at 30℃for 5 days. The cellulase and hemicellulase from Penicillium sp. ECU0913 was stable at an ambient temperature with half-lives of 28 days and 12 days, respectively. Moreover, the stability of cellulase and hemicellulase at 50℃was enhanced with the addition of various additives. The addition of 3 M sorbitol greatly improved the thermostability of two enzymes with half-lives increased by 2.3 and 188 times, respectively. The catalytic performance of cellulase and hemicellulase from Penicillium sp. ECU0913 was evaluated for the hydrolysis of corn stover pretreated by steam explosion. Under the optimal hydrolysis condition with an enzyme dosage of 50 FPU/g dry matter and solid loading of 10% (w/w), the cellulose and hemicellulose conversions reached 77.2% and 47.5% respectively, without adding any accessory enzyme. The results above indicate that Penicillium sp. ECU0913 may become a new and interesting source of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes with important economic advantages.