Extracellular Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes of Trichoderma and Their Role in the Bioconversion of Non-edible Biomass to Biofuel

The natural ability of Trichoderma species to secrete a wide array of enzymes, capable of targeting and hydrolysing complex plant biomass and fungal pathogens, finds diverse applications in biotechnology and agricultural, pharmaceutical and other industrial sectors. Secretion of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes in particular by Trichoderma species makes it one of the most explored fungi which has gained worldwide attention of researchers for biofuel production from agricultural biomass. In particular, Trichoderma reesei brought a paradigm shift for industrially relevant enzymes. Enzymes produced by Trichoderma species include cellulase complex which targets cellulose, xylanase which targets xylan and other non-glycosyl hydrolases. Mining genome and in silico analysis of reference strain T. reesei QM6a genomes and transcriptomes for carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZyme) have led to the identification of several candidate genes. Besides this, laccase (phenol oxidase) and lytic mono-oxygenase system of Trichoderma have been explored for industrial applications. Here in this chapter, attempt has been made to discuss the role of extracellular carbohydrate-active enzymes of fungal origin with special emphasis on Trichoderma for their role in biofuel prpduction from non-edible biomass.