The characteristics of insoluble softwood substrates affect fungal morphology, secretome composition, and hydrolytic efficiency of enzymes produced by Trichoderma reesei.

Cultivation of T. reesei on LP-STEX and LP-ALKOX produced a protein mixture that increased the hydrolytic strength of a basic cellulase mixture to state-of-the-art performance on softwood substrates. This suggests that the fungal adaptation mechanism can be exploited to achieve enhanced performance in enzymatic hydrolysis without a priori knowledge of specific substrate requirements.