Guilherme Bento Sperandio

Characterization of enzymatic parameters of Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and Aspergillus niger co-cultures
Fungal co-cultures are a new and yet unexplored way of producing enzymes. Such enzymes are used in biorefineries to produce a myriad of sustainable products from agro-industrial waste. Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and Aspergillus niger were tested as producers of carbohydrate active enzymes in both mono and co-culture, using sugarcane bagasse as the carbon source. The effect of fungal inoculation order was also assessed. Results show that both fungi can produce enzymes, and the production profiles vary according to culture parameters. Xylanase activity after de 4th day was very similar for all conditions. The co-cultures of A. niger + T. reesei RUT-C30 with delays of 48h and 24h obtained β-xylosidase activities 96% (48h) and 56% (24h) greater than simultaneous cultivation (0h); The effect of temperature in enzyme activity also varied greatly depending on the culture conditions. Pectinase activity at 50 ºC showed the most variation with 20% difference between the monoculture of T. reesei and the co-culture of T. reesei and A. niger with 24h and 48h delays. Xylanase showed similar activities among all culture conditions regardless of the temperature. The results shows that co-culture is a viable option for carbohydrate-active enzyme production. However, co-cultures are not yet optimized for industrial production of such enzymes are very little is known about the fungal interactions occurring in the co-culture. This lack of knowledge hinders the rational design of culture conditions to improve enzyme production.