A set of 11 S. commune strains was chosen for this study, representing diverse isolation sources and sites. Only non-clinical isolates were used because the goal was to identify strains with potential for industrial production.
Ten of these strains produced more than 2 g schizophyllan/L in ME basal medium containing 1% (w/v) DDGS. Thus, the capacity to produce schizophyllan from agricultural biomass appears to be a common trait among strains of S. commune. Two of these strains, ATCC 20165 and CBS 266.60, produced more than 10 g schizophyllan/L (Table 2). These yields
are comparable to those obtained from commercial production strain ATCC 38548. Schizophyllan preparations from strains ATCC 20165 and CBS 266.60 were further examined for solution viscosity, molecular weight, and surface tension
properties