Progress of lignocellulose degradation and utilization on model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa

Neurospora crassa is lignocellulolytic fungus. Its genome contain wide variety of genes encoding lignocellulolytic enzymes. Furthermore,a full genome deletion strain set for N. crassa is available. So it has proven to be an excellent system for investigating the mechanisms of lignocellulose degradation and cellulase production. In recent years,the lignocellulose degradation mechanisms by N. crassa have made great progress,including cellulase signal transduction,cellulase regulation,transportation and utilization of hydrolysis product,etc. The progress in these aspects is summarized. Further development of lignocellulose degradation by N. crassa is discussed. Summarization and keeping abreast of current development in lignocellulose degradation can benefit for scientific understanding of the mechanism of biomass degradation in filamentous fungi.