ABSTRACT

THOMAS M. WOOD Row ett R esearch In s t i tu te , A b erd een , Scotland

I. INTRODUCTION

In ca ta lyzing th e decay o f lignocellulosie re s id u e s , cellulolytic fu n g i a re of major im portance in o u r ecosystem . The cellu lase enzym es s y n ­ th esized b y th e fung i have a c ruc ia l role to p lay in recy c lin g n u tr ie n ts , in m aintaining soil fe r ti l i ty , and in p re se rv in g th e carbon cycle in n a ­ tu r e . Not s u rp r is in g ly , fungal cellu lases have been th e sub jec t of many in v estig a tio n s over th e y e a rs . How ever, what may once have been re g a rd e d as an eso te ric sub jec t in v es tig a ted b y a few academics is now of major commercial in te re s t (1 ) . The grow ing need fo r e n e rg y , food, and chemicals and th e ev e r p re se n t problem of d isposing o f in ­ d u s tr ia l w astes has focused a tten tio n on th e im portance of ce llu lases, and fungal cellu lases in p a r tic u la r , fo r th e genera tion o f glucose feed ­ stocks fo r fu r th e r biological conv ersio n .