The expression of the multi-functional cellulase gene mfc in Coprinopsis cinerea is modulated using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) promoter fragments from Agaricus bisporus, Flammulina velutipes, and Lentinula edodes. In submerged fermentation, with banana peels as the growth substrate, highest activities of endo-beta-1,4-glucanase (0.48 U/ml), total cellulase (0.26 U/ml) and endo-beta-1,4-xylanase (38.10 U/ml) were noted in the culture liquid Cabm44, which uses a 275 bp gpd fragment from A. bisporus. The lignocellulolytic enzymatic activities were increased nearly twofold in comparison with the wild-type strain. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.