The cell wall material from fruiting bodies of Laetiporus sulphureus has been suggested as a new alternative to mutan for the mutanase induction in Trichoderma harzianum. Structural analyses revealed that the alkali-soluble wall fraction from this polypore fungus contained 56.3% of (1-->3)-linked alpha-glucans. When the strain T. harzianum F-340 was grown on a cell wall preparation from L. sulphureus, the maximal enzyme productivity obtained after 3 days of cultivation was 0.71 U/ml. This yield was about 1.8-fold higher than that achieved on mutan, known so far as the best, but expensive and inaccessible, inducer of mutanase production. Cell-wall-induced mutanase showed a high hydrolytic potential in reaction with a dextranase-pretreated mutan, where maximal degrees of saccharification and solubilization of this biopolymer (80% and 100%, respectively) were reached in 3 h at 45 degrees C. The mutanase preparation was also effective in degradation of streptococcal mutan and its removal from oral biofilms, especially in a mixture with dextranase.