ABSTRACT
Over 1.5 million different fungi are estimated to be present in nature, living in very diverse natural environments as dry soils, rotting fruit and salty oceans, appearing in different forms ranging from single cells to mushrooms. This implies that fungi have a wide range of enzymes enabling consumption of, but also protecting from and competing against competitors for, the diverse and sometimes scarce set of available nutrients. It is for this that mankind has been using fungi for a long time in the production of beverages, fl avors and fermented vegetables like maize and cabbage. Since the 20th century, fungi and their isolated enzymes have also been successfully developed as selective biocatalysts. Screening for fungi and enzymes is relatively simple, allowing the evaluation of thousands of candidates in a short time. Moreover, fungi and enzymes can be produced at large scale using inexpensive media and short fermentation cycles. This has lead to a multi-billion dollar industry in which hundreds of products are being made using fungal enzymes. Familiar processes as penicillin production, the depolymerization of (ligno)cellulose, phosphate liberation in animal feed and lactose degradation in dairy products, are therefore economically dependent on the functioning of fungal enzymes.
