A consortium-APcT2 composed of 92% of Trichoderrna sp. T-1, 6.7% of P. chrysosporiurn and 1.3% of A. oryzae A-4 that produces cellulolytic enzyme system with strong wheat straw saccharification was constructed using Taguchi design combined with variance analysis (ANOVA). Among 32 consortia constructed from 6 fungi using Taguchi design, consortium 20 with the strongest composition was selected. The inhibitive fungal constituent in consortium 20 was subsequently removed according to the ANOVA results. The finally optimized consortium-APcT2 yielded 805.12 mg gds(-1) sugars, 26.98% higher than the pure Trichoderma sp. T-1. Protein profile analysis of the cellulolytic enzyme systems, sugar composition analysis of the hydrolysates and compatibility evaluation of the fungal constituents showed that the enhanced straw saccharification of the consortium-APcT2 could be mainly attributed to the enhancement of the co-cultivation for enzyme production and the synergistic action of different types of enzymes in the hydrolysis process. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.