Degradation of lignocellulosic material

1. A method for the treatment of corn stover which method comprises contacting pretreated corn stover with a composition comprising three or more enzyme activities, said enzyme activities being cellulase and/or hemicellulase activities, wherein:

a) the composition comprises an endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase and β-glucosidase which are derived from Talaromyces emersonii and the composition is provided in an amount from 0.15 to 1.5 mg enzyme protein per gram corn stover dry matter (mg EP/g CS dm)

b) the pH during the treatment is about 4.5 or lower,

c) the pretreated corn stover is produced by a method comprising exposing corn stover to an acid prior to contacting the corn stover with the composition,

d) the treatment is carried out at a dry matter content of 15% to 25%; and

e) said method results in at least 80% conversion of cellulose to a sugar or sugars.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pH during the treatment is 4.0 or lower.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme activities are thermostable.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme activities are capable of acting at low pH.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises endo-1,3(1,4)-β glucanase activity and endo-β-1,4-glucanase activity, both of which activities are derived from Talaromyces emersonii.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein the composition comprises one or more xylanase activities.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises one or more of the following proteins: an expansin, an expansin-like protein, a cellulose induced protein, a cellulose integrating protein, a scaffoldin or a scaffoldin-like protein, wherein said one or more proteins are optionally derived from Talaromyces emersonii.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment comprises the degradation of cellulose and/or hemicellulose.

9. A method for producing a sugar or sugars from corn stover which method comprises contacting the pretreated corn stover as defined in claim 1 with the composition as defined in claim 1 .

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the sugars are monomeric and/or multimeric sugars.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein at least one of the sugars produced is a fermentable sugar.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein at least one of the sugars produced is glucose, cellobiose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, galacturonic acid, glucuronic acid, mannose, rhamnose, sucrose or fructose.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pretreatment further comprises exposing the corn stover to a solvent, heat, a peroxide, ozone, mechanical shredding, grinding, milling or rapid depressurization, or a combination of any two or more thereof.

14. A method for producing a fermentation product, which method comprises:

producing a fermentable sugar using the method according to claim 1 ; and

fermenting the resulting fermentable sugar, thereby to produce a fermentation product.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the fermentation product is ethanol, butanol, lactic acid, a plastic, an organic acid, a solvent, an animal feed supplement, a pharmaceutical, a vitamin, an amino acid, an enzyme or a chemical feedstock.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises one or more of the following proteins: an expansin, an expansin-like protein, a cellulose induced protein, a scaffoldin or a scaffoldin-like protein, wherein said one or more proteins are optionally derived from Talaromyces emersonii.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said composition is provided at about 0.15 mg enzyme protein per gram corn stover dry matter (mg EP/g CS dm).

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said composition is provided at about 0.5 mg enzyme protein per gram corn stover dry matter (mg EP/g CS dm).

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein said composition is provided at 1.5 mg enzyme protein per gram corn stover dry matter (mg EP/g CS dm).