PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE bioresources.com Adejoye and Fasidi (2009). “Fungal biodegradation,” BioResources 4(2), 816-824. 816 BIODEGRADATION OF AGRO-WASTES BY SOME NIGERIAN WHITE-ROT FUNGI Oluseyi Damilola Adejoye a * and Isola. O. Fasidi b Three white-rot fungi: Daedalea elegans, Polyporus giganteus, and Lenzites betulina were screened for their lignin degrading abilities on rice straw, maizecob, sawdust of Terminalia superba, and sugarcane bagasse at different time intervals (30, 60, and 90 days). All the fungi demonstrated varying levels of ligninolytic capability with different degrees of lignin degradation in all the fermented substrates. A significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in the mycelia extension of Daedalea elegans grown on the different agro-industrial wastes. D. elegans gave maximum extension of 4.5 cm on sugarcane bagasse. The highest lignin reduction of 92.9% (p<0.05) was recorded in maize cob fermented with Daedalea elegans after 90 days. On the basis of lignocellulosic material degraded, it is concluded that the white-rot fungi offer a better alternative to conventional ways of disposing these waste substances. This paper considers the ability of indigenous white-rot fungi to degrade lignin as a way of using them in effective waste management. Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass; White-rot fungus; Agro-wastes; Substrates Contact information: a: Department of Biological Sciences, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu- Ode, Nigeria; b: Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria INTRODUCTION Lignocellulosic biomass from plants is the most abundant class of agricultural residues in the world (Kuhad et al. 1997). It accounts for more than 60% of the total biomass production (Kuhad et al. 1997). The accumulation of these lignocellulose- containing wastes in our environment is on the increase and poses significant environmental problems. Up to this point, there has not been any major effort towards remediating these wastes, apart from the burning of biomass (Levine 1996). Biomass burning and landfill are the common major routes of disposing these wastes in Nigeria (Okonko et al., 2009). A lot work has been directed towards optimization of the physical, chemical, and biological processes for the conversion of abundant agro-waste for value- added products (Okonko et al. 2009; Abbot et al. 2009). The most ambitious of these have been the conversion of lignocelluloses to alternative energy carriers (Kaylen et al. 2000). Others have been aimed at improving digestibility of nutritionally poor forage (Adenipekun and Fasidi, 2005). Lignocelluloses bioconversion is naturally slow and limited to a few microorganisms, due to its complex heterogenous structure (Marcelo et al. 2001). The most efficient lignin-degrading microorganisms are white-rot fungi (Falcon et al., 1995; Orth and Tien 1995). Although several studied have been done on the ability of temperate exotic white-rot fungi to degrade lignin in lignocellulosic wastes, few studies has been done on tropical white-rot fungi, especially Nigerian ones. This present study