The optimization of cellulase production by Irpex lacteus and Pycnoporus sanguineus was investigated. Fractional factorial design was conducted to determine significant variables and interactions. Response surface methodology was applied through Box-Behnken design to determine the optimum level of each factor on cellulase production. The optimal conditions of culture media were (g/L): for I. lacteus CaCl 2 .2 (H 2 O) 0.3, MgSO 4 .7(H 2 O) 0.3 and KH 2 PO 4 3, while for P. sanguineus was CaCl 2

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... 2(H 2 O) 0.1, MgSO 4 .7 (H 2 O) 0.2 and KH 2 PO 4 9. This optimized medium improved cellulase production, especially b-glucosidase activity values for I. lacteus. KH 2 PO 4 was found in this work to be a useful mineral compound for cellulolytic production. Ó 2018 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).