Poster Presentation 1B-58

Towards Understanding the b-glucosidase Production by Trichoderma reesei

Tamás Juhász,* Anita Egyházi, Zsolt, Szengyel and Kati Réczey

Dept. of Agricultural Chemical Technology

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

H-1521, Budapest, Szt. Gellért tér 4.

Phone: +36-14633442

Fax: +36-14632598

E-mail: tamas_juhasz@mkt.bme.hu

For the near future, ethanol, due to its advantageous physical properties, seems to be a good potential substitute for gasoline. One of the process alternatives suggested for the production of ethanol from lignocellulosics is based on the enzymatic saccharification of the cellulose. However, for efficient conversion of the cellulose fraction cellulase enzyme with high b-glucosidase activity must be applied.

One of the best fungal cellulase producers is Trichoderma reesei RUT C30. However, the considerably low extracellular b-glucosidase activity represented by the enzyme complex of this fungus results in poor hydrolysis potential. The b-glucosidase production of Trichoderma has been extensively studied. However, not enough is known about the localization of b-glucosidase.

In the present study the production of cellulases and b-glucosidase were investigated under different fermentation conditions. Cell disruption experiments were carried out in order to determine the extracellular, intracellular and cell bounded enzyme activities. Detailed results will be presented during the conference.