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Updated: Apr 24, 2026

Agar-Block Microcosms for Controlled Plant Tissue Decomposition by Aerobic Fungi
Published on: February 3, 2011
Plant biomass degradation by fungi
Miia R Mäkelä1, Nicole Donofrio2, Ronald P de Vries3
1Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Abstract:
Plant biomass degradation by fungi has implications for several fields of science. The enzyme systems employed by fungi for this are broadly used in various industrial sectors such as food & feed, pulp & paper, detergents, textile, wine, and more recently biofuels and biochemicals. In addition, the topic is highly relevant in the field of plant pathogenic fungi as they degrade plant biomass to either gain access to the plant or as carbon source, resulting in significant crop losses. Finally, fungi are the main degraders of plant biomass in nature and as such have an essential role in the global carbon cycle and ecology in general. In this review we provide a global view on the development of this research topic in saprobic ascomycetes and basidiomycetes and in plant pathogenic fungi and link this to the other papers of this special issue on plant biomass degradation by fungi.
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