1 Department of Microbiology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, Punjab, India.
2 Center for Structural and Functional Genomics, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada.
3 Department of Microbiology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, Punjab, India. Electronic address: chadhabs@yahoo.com.

The study was aimed at developing lignocellulolytic strain capable of efficient hydrolysis of mild alkali deacetylated (MAD) rice straw. The valorisation of lignin rich black liquor obtained during pre-treatment of rice straw into biogas was also evaluated. Study reports highly proficient cellulolytic Aspergillus allahabadii strain harbouring a spectrum of CAZymes based on comparative genome wide analysis that was subjected to strain breeding for developing a hyper producing strain. The secretome analysis showed up-modulation and several folds increase in the CAZyme activities in the culture extracts of the developed strain MAN 40 when compared to parent. The cellulolytic cocktail of the developed strain showed 1.52 folds higher saccharification of MAD rice straw when compared to Cellic CTec 3. Moreover, in-situ addition of cellulases derived from developed strains resulted in ~ 3.7 folds higher methane production during anaerobic digestion of mixture of lignin rich black liquor and differently treated rice straw.