Fungi: Weapons Of Biomass Destruction

Scientific Blogging - Science 2.0
By News Staff March 22nd 2012 05:30 PM

Where would we be without fungi and microbes to break down dead trees and leaf litter in nature? Up to our eyeballs in arborial garbage, that's where.

But such biomass destruction goes on every day - understanding this process of selective ligninolysis is of longstanding interest to the pulp and paper industry. According to the American Forest&Paper Association, approximately $175 billion worth of forest products such as pulp and paper are produced annually, and account for five percent of the nation's GDP. Studying fungi is pulp nonfiction, according to the researchers doing massive-scale genome sequencing projects to learn how the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin that serve as a plant's infrastructure can be broken down by these forest organisms to extract needed nutrients.

Read more