Microbial aspects of endo-β-1,4-xylanase production in solid-state fermentation by Penicillia: the case of Penicillium canescens

Production of xylanases by Penicillium canescens 10-10c is the research object in Walloon Center of Industrial Biology. Previous works used submerged or liquid fermentation. The actual works are oriented more and more towards solid fermentation from agricultural or agro-alimentary residues. In addition to the valorization of these residues, solid-state fermentation reaches an increasingly significant interest in various other fields like the biological breakdown of the solid residues, the bioremediation of the organic pollutants in the grounds and the reduction of the air pollution by the biofiltration. Xylanase is an industrial enzyme used in general in extraction and clarification processes. P. canescens can produce an activity of it, particularly in its balanced forms of xylanases, beta-xylosidase and arabinosidase, and not contaminated by cellulolytic and amylolytic activities. It is a hyper producing strain of xylanase. The production rate is one of the highest in literature (535 U.ml(-1) and 9,632 U.g(-1) in Erlenmeyer. asks, in submerged and solid state fermentation, respectively). The biobleaching activity of the cellulose pulp by the purified enzyme is higher than a commercial preparation of xylanases from Trichoderma longibrachiatum used industrially. It has a complete hydrolysis degree of 40% (on glucuronoxylan) and 35% (on arabinoxylan) at 55 C and at pH of 5.9. These characteristics lead to many industrial applications of this enzyme. That is why the optimization of its production by the solid-state fermentation at the laboratory scale in order to de. ne a policy for the industrial transposition later is carried out. This article presents a summary of the scientific literature on this subject.