Transcriptomics analysis reveals the high bio-degradation efficiency of white-rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 on lignin

Lignocellulosic biomass is an organic matrix composed of cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin. In nature, lignin degradation by basidiomycetes is the key step in lignocellulose decay. White-rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 (YK-624) has been extensively studied due to their high degradation ability of lignin. It has been demonstrated that YK-624 can secrete lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase for lignin degradation in our previous study. However, the underlying mechanism for the lignin degradation of YK-624 remains unknown. Here, we analyzed YK-624 gene expression following growth on ligninolytic and non-ligninolytic conditions and compared differential gene expression to that of model white-rot fungus P. chrysosporium by next-generation sequencing.