title: Plant biomass degradation by fungi.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Miia R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mäkelä
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Donofrio
authors.affiliation: Fungal Physiology, CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands; Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.devries@cbs.knaw.nl.
authors.forename: Ronald P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: de Vries
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001711:Biotransformation; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Ascomycetes; Basidiomycetes; Industrial applications; Plant biomass degradation; Plant pathogens