ISOLATION OF EXCEEDINGLY LOW OXYGEN CONSUMING FUNGAL STRAINS ABLE TO UTILIZE LIGNIN AS CARBON SOURCE

Lignin biodegradation is normally related to aerobic microorganisms, and it is often claimed that microbes do not metabolize lignin as a carbon source. In this work, several fungal strains were isolated from the sediment of a small stream located in a forest and tested on agar plates with lignin as the only carbon source. All identified strains were Ascomycetes, Penicillium spinulosum, Pseudeurotium bakeri and Galactomyces geotrichum. When cultivated in shaking flasks with lignosulphonate as a carbon source, the lignin was consumed, and cell free culture filtrates appeared to depolymerize lignosulphonate to some extent. It is suggested that the strains detected are part of a symbiotic community and live in a microbiological niche in which they are able to utilize lignin residues left from brown rot and humus having extremely low oxygen content.