The plant pathogenic fungus Chrysoporthe cubensis was cultivated under solid state employing different substrates and the highest endoglucanase (33.84 U g(-1)), FPase (2.52 U g(-1)), beta-glucosidase (21.55 U g(-1)) and xylanase (362.38 U g(-1)) activities were obtained using wheat bran as carbon source. Cellulases and xylanase produced by C cubensis showed maximal hydrolysis rate at pH 4.0 and in a temperature range of 50-60 degrees C. All enzymatic activities were highly stable at 40 and 50 degrees C through 48 h of preincubation. Saccharification of alkaline pretreated sugarcane bagasse by crude enzyme extract from C cubensis resulted in release of 320.8 mg/g and 288.7 mg/g of glucose and xylose, respectively. On another hand, a similar assay employing commercial cellulase preparation resulted in release of 250.6 mg/g and 62.1 mg/g of glucose and xylose, respectively. Cellulolytic extract from C cubensis showed a great potential to be used in biomass saccharification processes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.