Production and characterization of xylanase from Thielaviopsis basicola

The black rot fungus Thielaviopsis basicola has the ability to grow on cellulosic biomass, producing xylanase. Of the four cellulosic substrates tested, rice straw was found to be the best for production of xylanase. A xylanase activity of 34 U/ml was obtained with rice straw which was more than three times that obtained with larchwood xylan. The beta -xylosidase activities obtained with these two substrates were 0.05 U/ml and 0.016 U/ml respectively.