Short CommunicationA possible water-soluble inducer for synthesis of cellulase in Aspergillus niger

•Pretreatment with P. ostreatus could promote the production of cellulases.•Bamboo-shoot shell could be converted into soluble inducer of cellulases.•The inducer maybe a lignin derivative without aromatic ring.•The revelation is useful for cellulase industry.

The synthesis of cellulase in filamentous fungi can be triggered by several inducers. In this study, a bamboo-shoot shell pretreated with Pleurotus ostreatus could promote the formation of cellulases in Aspergillus niger. Further identification, including UPLC-TOF-MS, ultrafiltration, and FT-IR, denoted that the soluble inducer was not a traditional disaccharide but a type of modified lignin polymer. This revelation may result in incipient strategies to ameliorate cellulase productivity.

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