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This study investigates the mycelial biomass production and chitosan extraction potential of various Basidiomycota strains, including Heterobasidion annosum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pleurotus ostreatus, Trametes versicolor, and Lentinus lepideus. Both submerged fermentation (SF) and solid-state fermentation (SSF) methods were employed. The chitosan yield in basidiocarps of Pleurotus ostreatus, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma applanatum was also evaluated as a reference material. The chitosan extracted from fungal cells was characterized using elemental analyses and FTIR spectroscopy. Among the cultivated strains, P. chrysosporium exhibited the highest mycelial biomass concentration in SF (1.03 g 100 mL–1) after 14 days, while T. versicolor achieved the highest biomass concentration in SSF (3.65 g 100 mL–1). The highest chitosan yield was obtained from the mycelium of P. chrysosporium (0.38%) and T. versicolor (0.37%) in shaken SF. Additionally, commercially cultivated A. bisporus demonstrated the highest chitosan yield in fungal fruiting bodies (1.7%). The extracted chitosan holds potential as a functional biopolymer additive for eco-friendly materials, serving as an alternative to synthetic wet and dry strength agents in packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The white-rot fungus Trametes versicolor and brown-rot fungi Coniophora puteana, Gloeophyllum trabeum, and Postia placenta have a potential to produce a range of hydrolytic enzymes participating in the degradation of lignocellulosic materials. In the colonization of untreated and thermally modified wood blocks wheat bran-containing medium (WBA) greatly favored the secretion of xylanase by C. puteana and both endoglucanase and xylanase expression by T. versicolor, although rather higher carboxymethyl cellulase activity of C. puteana was observed on the malt extract-based medium (malt extract-containing agar (MEA). Coniophora puteana and T. versicolor are able to actively colonize and degrade the untreated pine and birch wood blocks. The mycelium applied on blocks in the form of pellets was more aggressive in wood degradation in comparison with the colonized mycelium. WBA favored the dry matter loss during the initial stages (10-20 days) of pine wood colonization; however, MEA further promoted more rapid wood degradation. The main finding was that the thermal treatment of birch wood was accompanied by a low degree of fungal colonization and increased durability against the fungal attack in spite of the high cellulase and xylanase activities. Thermal modification of wood was not toxic to the fungi because it did not disturb the secretion of the hydrolytic enzymes involved in wood degradation. The thermally modified hollocellulose is probably less susceptible to the enzymes involved in the degradation of polysaccharides or less accessible to hydrolytic enzymes due to the change of the cell wall structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]