Efficiency of native wood rotting fungi degrading wood

Lignin an essential component of plant cells is the second most abundant plant based biopolymer in the biosphere and comprises 35% of the dry weight of woody biomass. The present investigation was undertaken to explore the potential of locally isolated wood rotting fungi for wood and lignin degradation. Four locally isolated and two reference cultures from NCIM, Pune were employed in the study to evaluate and compare their potential for degradation of teak wood blocks. The locally isolated Rigidoporus sp. DK4 (43.02% weight loss and 45.09% lignin loss) and Pleurotus nebrodensis DK5 (36.56% weight loss and 41.40% lignin loss) were more promising than the reference cultures Phanerochaete chrysosporium NCIM 1197 (34.45% weight loss and 37.98% lignin loss) and Trametes hirsuta, NCIM 1201, (29.78% weight loss and 34.00% lignin loss). The use of dual cultures did not show any advantage over single cultures for wood and lignin degradation.