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•Granulobasidium vellereum is proposed as an antagonist of fungi related to damage of forest wood.•G. vellereum inhibited the growth of all target fungi when inoculated first in vitro ...cultures.•FVOCs of G. vellereum inhibited the growth of all target fungi.•These volatiles can be considered for forest management strategies.
Studies involving biological control of wood decay fungi and pests in forest areas are scarce. The basidiomycete Granulobasidium vellereum (Ellis & Cragin) Jülich has been isolated as wood endophyte from London Plane trees (Platanus acerifolia (Ait.) Willd). This basidiomycete produces a variety of sesquiterpenes with antifungal activity. In this study we evaluated the potential activity of G. vellereum against wood decay fungi and fungi associated with the ambrosia beetle Megaplatypus mutatus Chapuis, an important forest pest in Populus sp. A combination of in vitro assays was made, in cultures and on wood blocks. Granulobasidium vellereum’s Volatile Organic Compounds (FVOCs) were characterized and their potential role in biocontrol was assessed. Granulobasidium vellereum did not cause a significant loss of weight on P. acerifolia and Populus wood and inhibited the growth of the target fungi, mainly when inoculated first. Up to nineteen volatile compounds were determined in G. vellereum strains. The growth of all target fungi was inhibited by FVOCs and in some cases the morphology of the fungi was altered. These results indicate that G. vellereum can be used as a Biological Control Agent (BCA) of xylophagous fungi and fungi related to forest pests. Further investigations should focus on developing application strategies for M. mutatus management.
Soil samples were collected from field sites in two AWPA (American Wood Protection Association) wood decay hazard zones in North America. Two field plots at each site were exposed to differing ...preservative chemistries via in-ground installations of treated wood stakes for approximately 50 years. The purpose of this study is to characterize soil fungal species and to determine if long term exposure to various wood preservatives impacts soil fungal community composition. Soil fungal communities were compared using amplicon-based DNA sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the rDNA array. Data show that soil fungal community composition differs significantly between the two sites and that long-term exposure to different preservative chemistries is correlated with different species composition of soil fungi. However, chemical analyses using ICP-OES found levels of select residual preservative actives (copper, chromium and arsenic) to be similar to naturally occurring levels in unexposed areas. A list of indicator species was compiled for each treatment-site combination; functional guild analyses indicate that long-term exposure to wood preservatives may have both detrimental and stimulatory effects on soil fungal species composition. Fungi with demonstrated capacity to degrade industrial pollutants were found to be highly correlated with areas that experienced long-term exposure to preservative testing.
Coltriciella dependens a new record of wood rotting fungi is being reported on partially burnt bark of living Pinus kesiya from Meghalaya, India. It is the first record of the genus Coltriciella as ...well. Macro-microscopical features, photographs, distribution patterns and ecology are discussed.
This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of wood particles (control and treated), and the effects of thermal modification and adhesive levels on the wettability and biological resistance ...of particleboards made of sugarcane residue and bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper). Therefore, 75% bamboo particles and 25% sugarcane residue (bagasse) were used for producing the particleboards. The particles were treated at 220 °C for 3h35min. Urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive was used in three solid contents (10%, 12% and 14%) based on the dry mass of the particles. The mat was cold pre-consolidated (pressure of 0,5 MPa for 5 min) and after hot consolidated (3,45 MPa, 180 ºC, 10 min). Water and ethylene glycol and two measurement times were used to measure the contact angle. Gloeophyllum trabeum and Rhodonia placenta (brown rot) and Trametes versicolor (white rot) fungi were used for the biological resistance test. There was a change in the chemical composition of the treated particles such as a reduction in the levels of lignin (bagasse and bamboo), total extracts and holocellulose (bagasse). The thermal treatment increased the final contact angles obtained with water. The particleboard surfaces were classified as non-wettable and partially wettable to the tested solvents. The thermal treatment provided biological resistance improvements in the particleboards to the tested fungi, being classified as very resistant to Rhodonia placenta, resistant to very resistant to Gloeophyllum trabeum, and moderate to resistant to Trametes versicolor.
Melanoderma boninense is described and illustrated as a new species from the Bonin Islands, Japan, on the basis of morphological and phylogenetic investigations. This species is characterized by ...sessile basidiocarps with an ungulate pileus, a black crust on the pileus surface, pores 4–6/mm, a dimitic hyphal system comprising clamped generative hyphae and cyanophilous skeletal binding hyphae with or without a dextrinoid reaction, cylindrical basidiospores measuring 5.5–7.5 × 2–3 μm, and cystidioles on the sides of tubes and near the pore surface. Morphological examination of authentic specimens of other Melanoderma species revealed that the genus is variable in terms of the shape and size of cystidioles. A black crust on the pileus surface composed of palisade and highly agglutinated hyphae is a distinctive diagnostic morphological feature of Melanoderma that differentiates it from allied genera. Melanoderma boninense, which is currently known from a restricted area of the Bonin Islands, is potentially threatened by environmental reduction of the type locality due to the invasive tree Bischofia javanica.
•Melanoderma boninense is described and illustrated as new species from Bonin Islands.•Morphological and phylogenetical comparisons among Melanoderma species are carried out.•Cultural characteristics of Melanoderma boninense are provided.
The phenomenon of cryptic species is widespread among various fungal lineages.
Fomes inzengae
(Ces. & De Not.) Cooke has been recently recognized as a South European kin of wood-decay basidiomycete
...F. fomentarius
(L.) Fr. due to the problematic morphological identification of both species, their taxonomic status has been disputed. The aim of this research is to examine the distribution, host preferences, morphological characters, and phylogenetic relationships between
F. fomentarius
and
F. inzengae
in the South Moravian region in Czechia (Central Europe), where both species occur sympatrically. The results revealed the ecological preferences of
Fomes
spp. along an altitudinal gradient, while
F. inzengae
is a lowland taxon,
F. fomentarius
dominates at higher altitudes in forests with abundant
Fagus sylvatica
. The main contact zone of the two taxa is located in the upper-colline vegetation belt (elevation ca. 400‒550 m a.s.l.). The morphological analysis revealed that the basidiospore size, the width of skeletal hyphae in basidiomes, and the linear density of pores of both taxa are almost identical and can not be used for the identification of the two species. Multigene sequence analyses of ITS, LSU,
RPB1, RPB2,
and
TEF1
markers confirmed that
F. fomentarius
and
F. inzengae
are phylogenetically distinct species. The relationship of
F. inzengae
and
F. fomentarius
to
Globifomes graveolens
and
Hexagonia
spp. is discussed.
Most wood-inhabiting fungi are assumed to be dispersed primarily by wind, with the exception of a few species involved in mutualistic relationships with insects. In this study we tested whether ...several species of wood-inhabiting insects can function as dispersal vectors for non-mutualistic fungi, which would indicate that wood-inhabiting fungi can benefit from targeted animal-mediated dispersal. We sampled wood-inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera) from freshly felled wood experimentally added to forests and used DNA metabarcoding to investigate the fungal DNA carried by these insects. Staphylinid beetles rarely contained fungal DNA, while Endomychus coccineus, Glischrochilus hortensis and Glischrochilus quadripunctatus frequently carried fungal DNA with a composition specific to the insect taxon. A large proportion of the obtained fungal sequences (34%) represented decomposer fungi, including well-known wood-decay fungi such as Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomes fomentarius, Trichaptum abietinum and Trametes versicolor. Scanning electron microscopy further showed that some of the fungal material was carried as spores or yeast cells on the insect exoskeletons. Our results suggest that insect-vectored dispersal is of broader importance to wood-inhabiting fungi than previously assumed.
•Several species of wood-inhabiting beetles vectored wood-decay fungi.•The beetle species Endomychus coccineus carried wood-decay fungi most frequently.•Some of this fungal material was carried as spores on insect exoskeletons.•Beetle taxa differed significantly in OTU composition of their vectored fungi.•Therefore, arrival order of beetles might directly influence arrival order of fungi.
Fungi constitute an invaluable natural resource for scientific research, owing to their diversity; they offer a promising alternative for bioprospecting, thus contributing to biotechnological ...advances. For a long time, extensive information has been exploited and fungal products have been tested as a source of natural compounds. In this context, enzyme production remains a field of interest, since it offers an efficient alternative to the hazardous processes of chemical transformations. Owing to their vast biodiversity and peculiar biochemical characteristics, two fungal categories, white-rot and anaerobic
Neocallimastigomycota
, have gathered considerable attention for biotechnological applications. These fungi are known for their ability to depolymerize complex molecular structures and are used in degradation of lignocellulosic biomass, improvement of animal feed digestibility, biogas and bioethanol production, and various other applications. However, there are only limited reports that describe proteolytic enzymes and esterases in these fungi and their synergistic action with lignocellulolytic enzymes on degradation of complex polymers. Thus, in this minireview, we focus on the importance of these organisms in enzyme technology, their bioprospecting, possibility of integration of their enzyme repertoire, and their prospects for future biotechnological innovation.
Although many wood decay basidiomycetes secrete oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes that participate in lignocellulose biodedgradation, it is generally recognized now that these enzymes cannot penetrate ...sound wood, and that fungi must employ smaller agents to initiate decay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are likely candidates, and evidence is accumulating that some wood decay fungi produce these oxidants. For example, we have observed that, when they grow on wood, white rot and brown rot basidiomycetes degrade polyethylene glycol, a recalcitrant polymer that resists attack by species other than nonspecific, extracellular oxidants. By contrast, xylariaceous ascomycetes do not degrade polyethylene glycol, and therefore do not produce these oxidants when they degrade wood. The ROS that basidiomycetes employ remain unidentified in most cases, but the hydroxyl radical (.OH) is a likely participant, because there is a well-established pathway for its production via the Fenton reaction (H sub(2)O sub(2) + Fe super(2+) + H super(+) arrow right H sub(2)O + Fe super(3+) + .OH). The two best documented fungal pathways for .OH production involve the extracellular reduction of Fe super(3+) and O sub(2) by cellobiose dehydrogenase or by secreted hydroquinones. Peroxyl (ROO.) and hydroperoxyl (.OOH) radicals, although they are weaker oxidants, may also be involved in wood decay because they are produced via reactions of .OH and by some fungal enzymes.
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