Effects of Nitrogen Sources on Cellulose and Synthetic Lignin Degradation by Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Phanerochaete chrysosporium degraded cellulose faster with organic nitrogen sources than with NH(4)Cl. Simple and complex nitrogen sources added at the time of inoculation to N-limited cultures of P. chrysosporium, with glucose as carbon/energy source, transiently stimulated degradation of synthetic [C]lignin to CO(2). The same nitrogen sources added 5 days after inoculation, when the cultures were entering secondary metabolism, delayed CO(2) production. The various N sources affected synthetic lignin degradation in defined medium differently than lignin degradation in aspen wood.