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Inhibition of the biodegradation of coniferous and broadleaved wood by new imidazolium salts
2003 - IRG/WP 03-30320
Studies were carried out on fungicidal values of fourteen potential wood preservatives – modified quaternary heteroaromatic compounds using the screening agar-block. The vacuum treated blocks (22mm x 17mm x 12mm) of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), spruce (Picea excelsa L.), beech (Fagus silvatica L.) and birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) with testing compounds were exposed to Coniophota puteana a...
J Zabielska-Matejuk, J Pernak, W Wieczorek


Biological variability in the oxalate/oxalate decarboxylase system among five isolates of the wood-degrading fungus Meruliporia incrassate
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10573
The “dry-rot” wood decay fungus Meruliporia incrassata has recently attracted attention, primarily in the western coastal United States, as a particularly destructive pest of building material. Recently, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accepted a voluntary withdrawal of the historically effective chromated-copper arsenate (CCA) as a preservative for wood used in residential se...
C Howell, J Jellison


Fun with Soil Block Jars: Teaching fungal wood decay in the classroom
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10574
In this world of increasing complexity and technological advancements, it is ever more important to raise scientifically literate children. The National Science Foundation Teaching Fellowship Program (NSF GK-12) at the University of Maine provides an opportunity for advanced graduate students in science, mathematics and engineering to bring their knowledge, as well as the latest equipment, to stud...
C Howell, L Gott, B Meehan


Micromorphological Characteristics of Degradation in Bamboo Attacked by White Rot Fungus Lentinus edodes
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10575
In comparison with micromorphological works for wood decay, little known is about the decay pattern of bamboos by wood decay fungi. The present work was undertaken to understand the general degradation pattern of bamboo and the influence of polylaminate layers in bamboo fiber walls on the restriction of fungal decay. The weight loss of bamboo species Phyllostachys puberscens against the white rot ...
Chang Hyun Cho, Kwang Ho Lee, Yoon Soo Kim


The bacterial transformation of organic biocides; a common mechanism?
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10585
It was found that a number of unformulated organic biocides showed a susceptibility to degradation by proteobacteria. Exposure of tebuconazole, a candidate biocide, chlorothalonil and IPBC to a Ralstonia strain was found to result in biocide detoxification, as demonstrated through HPLC and a bioassay. Exposure of the biocides to a previously identified extracellular factor was also found to resu...
D F Wallace, D J Dickinson


Comparing microbial colonisation and Decay Rates of Wood from Sound and Aphid-Killed Kenyan-Grown Mexican Cypress (Cupressus lusitanica)
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10599
Samples of wood from 10, 15, and 30-year old trees attacked and killed by the cypress aphid (Cinara cupressi) and sound Kenyan-grown Cupressus lusitanica trees were investigated for variations in moisture content, density and susceptibility to microbial decay. MC varied with tree age, a normal trend, and between samples from aphid-killed and sound trees. In samples from 10, 15 and 20-year old so...
R Venkatasamy


Exposure of CCA and ACZA treated parallel strand lumber to marine borer attack in northeastern and southeastern waters of the United States of America
2006 - IRG/WP 06-30400
Southern pine and Douglas fir Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) panels were treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) or ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate (ACZA), respectively and exposed in a marine environment in Massachusetts (northeastern USA coast) for 7 years. Similarly treated panels were also exposed to a site on the Atlantic coast Florida (southeastern USA) for the same period. In the northe...
B Goodell, P Merrick, J Jellison, Y Qian


Investigation of new wood preservation formulations based on synergies between antioxidant, 2-HPNO and Propiconazole
2006 - IRG/WP 06-30401
Wood degradation by fungi is a complex phenomenon taking place in part through oxidative reactions involving many oxidizing agents like free radicals and hydroperoxide. In order to develop novel and more environmentally benign preservative systems, mixtures of Propiconazole and antioxidants with different stabilization mechanisms were investigated to detect possible synergies allowing to reduce th...
B Bakhsous, S Dumarçay, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin


The Effect of Flavonoids on Colour and Spectral Changes of the Wood Surface Caused by Heat Treatment or Ultra-violet Irradiation
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40341
Both heat treatment and UV irradiation can cause discolouration and change in the spectral properties of wood surface. Some of the characteristic flavonols have significant role on colour and spectral changes, despite of their relative small quantities in wood. Colour changes and spectral properties of natural and extracted black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and poplar (Populus nigra L.) were...
R Csonka-Rákosa, L Molnár-Hamvas, E Börcsök, J Molnár, K Németh


Phenol oxidase activity and one-electron oxidation activity in wood degradation by soft-rot deuteromycetes
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10615
Wood degradation, one-electron oxidation activity as assayed by ethylene generation from 2-keto-4-thiomethylbutyric acid (KTBA), and phenol oxidase activity were measured in cultures of six deuteromyce fungi, with glucose or wood as the carbon source. The four fungi that degraded Japanese beech wood had higher one-electron oxidation activities in wood-containing cultures than in glucose-containing...
H Tanaka, M Yamakawa, S Itakura, A Enoki


Gypsum effects on ‘dry rot’ wood degradation as a function of environment
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10624
‘Dry rot’ fungi are a unique group of brown rot fungi that can degrade wood away from ground contact where other fungi fail to colonize. Successfully occupying this niche is partially due to efficient water and nutrient transport, but mobilizing elements, notably calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe), from adjacent building materials has also been implicated in their success. Here we report a series of t...
J Schilling, J Jellison


Photo-degradation of modified and non-modified wood, coated with water borne acrylic coatings during artificial light exposure
2007 - IRG/WP 07-30416
A series of experiments were carried out to investigate photo-degradation of thermally modified (at 210oC and – 0.9 bars for two hours) and non-modified spruce wood (Picea abies L (Karst)), coated with transparent and semitransparent (with 3% pigment content) acrylic coatings during artificial UV light irradiation for 200 hours. Photo-degradation was evaluated in terms of colour changes througho...
M Deka, M Tomažic, M Petric


Tunneling patterns of the subterranean termite species Reticulitermes grassei (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10619
The cryptic habits of subterranean termites restricts detailed analysis of their foraging patterns in situ, but the process is evidently dominated by tunnel constructions connecting the nest with woody resources discovered within the territory of each colony. In this study, tunnel formation and orientation were studied experimentally in the termite Reticulitermes grassei (Clément), using 2D labor...
T Nobre, L Nunes, D E Bignell


Characterization of protein patterns from decayed wood of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) by proteomic analysis
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10654
The primary biotic decomposers of wood belong to the basidiomycetes. The members of this group can attack and biodegrade both wood in the forest and in service. By the time wood decay is visible, there has already been a significant loss of strength. The identification of basidiomycetes and other organisms on wood only tell us what is present, not what is actively decaying the wood. When organisms...
Young-Min Kang, L Prewitt, S Diehl


Effect of wood polymers degradation during heat treatment on extracellular enzymatic activities involved in beech degradation by Trametes versicolor
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40392
Effect of heat treatment on extracellular enzymes involved in wood degradation by Trametes versicolor was investigated. Heat-treated and untreated beech blocks were exposed to T. versicolor on malt agar medium and extracellular enzymatic activities investigated. A strong ABTS oxidizing activity has been detected during the first stage of colonization in both cases, while cellulase activities are m...
S Lekounougou, G Nguila Inari, M Pétrissans, S Dumarçay, J P Jacquot, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin


Heat treatment, thermal treatment, thermal degradation of wood, carbon nanotubes and Damascus steel swords. What do they all have in common?
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40399
Thermal degradation of wood is a well known phenomenon. Yet heat-treatment of wood can also provide protection for wood against certain environmental hazards. This paper explores some of the aspects of thermal degradation of wood fiber at relatively low temperatures with a surprising result. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were produced when a specific heating regime was used to carbonize the wood fiber. ...
Xinfeng Xie, B Goodell, Yuhui Qian, G Daniel


Degradation of polychlorinated organic biocides by the wood decaying fungi
2008 - IRG/WP 08-50253
Organochlorine biocides such as lindane, pentachlorophenol sodium salt, and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 have been widely used as wood preservatives. Due to their low degradability by soil bacteria, treated waste wood products pose a serious threat to the environment. Consequently, there is an increased need for development of new strategies for their detoxification. In this work, the bioremediati...
I Vidic, L Zupancic-Kralj, K Sepcic, F Pohleven


Antinomic natural self-protection mechanism in long-lasting woods: a case study with three tropical species from French Guiana
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10696
We demonstrate in this work through 3 examples that Amazonian trees may specialize long-lasting woods by means of at least to different approaches. Wallaba impregnates its wood with large amounts of weakly antifungal compounds acting in synergy, while tatajuba and louro vermelho woods are naturally impregnated with antifungal agents. Comparison of biological activities in vitro and concentrations ...
A Rodrigues, M Royer, N Amusant, J Beauchêne, G Herbette, V Eparvier, A Thibaut, L Salmen Espíndola, B Thibaut, D Stien


Degradation of wood veneers by Fenton’s reagents: effects of low molecular weight phenolic compounds on hydrogen peroxide decay and tensile strength loss
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20400
Pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneers strips were incubated in acetate buffer containing hydrogen peroxide and iron to mimic mechanisms of brown rot decay and assess the degradation of cellulose through analysis of the tensile properties of the decayed wood. The tensile properties of thin wood strips treated with Fenton system reagents or precursors were determined and correlated to weight loss as ...
Yanjun Xie, R Well, Zefang Xiao, B Goodell, J Jellison, H Militz, C Mai


The involvement of hydroxyl-radical-producing glycoprotein from the white-rot basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora in wood decay
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10688
White-rot decay can be divided into two subtypes. One type involves the simultaneous degradation of all wood components through the formation of erosion troughs with a progressive thinning of wood cell walls. This type of decay is consistent with a model in which several polymer-degrading enzymes act on the exposed surfaces of the wood cell walls, producing progressive erosion from the lumen to th...
H Tanaka, Y Inoue, T Morikawa, S Itakura, A Enoki


Durability and fungal colonisation patterns in wood samples after six years in soil contact evaluated with qPCR, microscopy, TGA, chitin- and ergosterol assays
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20402
There is a need to establish new objective and sensitive methods for early detection and quantification of decay fungi in wood materials. Molecular methods have proven to be a useful tool within wood protection issues, however, this field is still poorly explored and so far relatively few have used these methods within the field of wood deterioration. Among the techniques used in the indirect quan...
A Pilgård, G Alfredsen, I Børja, C Björdal


Microscopy evaluation of microbial decay patterns in wood stakes after 6 years in soil contact
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10715
Most studies on wood modification have so far been concerned with service life predictions rather than investigating the decay protection mechanism. Very little is known about the mode of action of these new treatments and about the strategies used by wood degraders in order to utilize the wood material despite a treatment. Access to such knowledge would allow further modification and improvement ...
A Pilgård, C G Björdal


Glutathione transferases as functional biomarkers of wood degradation?
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10735
The recent release of several fungal genome sequences allows the report of an overview of fungal glutathione transferases (GSTs) focused on their function in the wood-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium. A genomic and phylogenetic analysis of GST classes in various sequenced fungi –zygomycetes, ascomycetes and basidiomycetes- revealed some specificity in GSTs distribution, in com...
E Gelhaye, M Morel


Simulation and Investigation of Wood Degradation by Erosion Bacteria in Laboratory Experiments
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20431
A Microcosm experiment was successfully set up to establish, monitor and manipulate bacterial wood degradation under low oxygen conditions. Sound pine sticks were placed in waterlogged sediment from a heavily decayed pine pile foundation site in Amsterdam. The system was subject to different gassing treatment regimes in order to investigate the role of oxygen in the bacterial degradation process o...
J Gelbrich, E I Kretschmar, N Lamersdorf, H Militz


The Use of Micro-Tensile Testing to Assess Weathering Decay and Oxidative Degradation of Wooden Items
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20433
This paper presents a method to study the weathering performance of wooden items and to assess the oxidative degradation of wood via the Fenton reaction. Weathering resistance and photo-stability of wood was tested using pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneer strips measuring approximately 60 µm in thickness. The veneer strips were treated using a reactive chemical to impart surface protection. The ...
C Mai, Yanjun Xie, Zefang Xiao, P D Evans, H Militz


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