Comparative transcriptome analysis among the ligninolysis-deficient stains

White-rot fungi play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle because they are able to degrade lignin present in wood biomass efficiently. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying lignin degradation by white-rot fungi is far from being fully deciphered. Recently, mutations in four genes, wtr1, chd1, pex1 and gat1 were shown to cause defects in the ability to degrade wood lignin in the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. In this study, we conducted comparative transcriptome analysis to identify genes that are significantly up- or down-regulated in these ligninolytic-deficient mutant strains when grown on beech wood sawdust medium.. These results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of wood-degrading enzyme genes in P. ostreatus.