IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Preliminary investigation on the natural durability of Guayule (Parthenium argentatum)-based wood products
2000 - IRG/WP 00-40154
Conventional preservatives used to protect wood from insect and microbial damages are presently of major concern to human health and the environment. Finding alternative and economical preservatives has not been successful. Previous studies have shown that the resinous material extracted from the guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum, Gray) has both insect- and microbial-resistant properties. Unfor...
F S Nakayama, P Chow, D S Bajwa, J A Youngquist, J H Muehl, A M Krzysik


Effect of remediation on the release of copper, chromium, and arsenic from particleboard made from CCA treated wood
2001 - IRG/WP 01-50170
This study sought to determine the effect of remediation with oxalic acid (OA) extraction and Bacillus licheniformis fermentation on the release of copper, chromium, and arsenic from particleboard made from remediated wood particles and also investigates durability of the particleboard against white and brown- rot fungi. Particleboard samples were manufactured using untreated, CCA-treated, OA-extr...
S N Kartal, C A Clausen


Studies in an accelerated soil bed facility on the decay susceptibility of U.K. grown spruce and pine poles treated with copper/chrome/arsenic (CCA) by pressurised sap-displacement. Part 1: Setting up of soil beds and initial soft rot results
1990 - IRG/WP 2344
The paper describes the methodology used in the construction and early operation of an accelerated soil bed facility used to examine the decay susceptibility of U.K. grown Scots and Corsican pine and Sitka and Norway spruce treated with C.C.A. by high pressure sap-displacememt. The design and control of the facility as well as the preparation, soil exposure and soft rot decay analysis of quarter p...
A Bruce, S D Hainey, G M Smith, B King, P D Evans


Soft-rot testing. Memo to CEN
1983 - IRG/WP 2206 A
1. Development of a single test procedure to assess performance of preservatives against soft rot fungi is an ideal that cannot be realised at present, if results are to be both reproducible between laboratories and pertinent to the practical requirements of individual countries. 2. Consensus opinion amongst members of Sub Group I - Soft rot tests, of Working Group II - Fundamentals of Testing, of the IRG, is that the immediate needs of CEN would be best answered by: (a) a code of recommended practice, (b) a multiplicity of test procedures, and (c) a degree of flexibility in test procedures. 3. The code of recommended practice should recognise the need for: (a) a pure culture, synthetic medium (sand or vermiculite + nutrients), single wood species test to be adopted by all laboratories as a common reference point of testing, (b) mixed inoculum and/or unsterile soil laboratory or fungus cellar tests which account for local variations in the fungal flora, (c) incorporation of a range of wood species where applicable (i.e. where mixed hardwoods comprise the main resource), (d) provision of local internal standards of known performance under field conditions, (e) incorporation of leaching procedures other than standard methods with deionized water (e.g. mild acid, milk alkali, ionic solutions of various salts) where applicable to local exposure conditions, (f) precise definition of the criteria used for establishing toxic thresholds (mass loss, strength loss, microscopic examination). 4. Initial screening tests should remain the province of the individual research worker. 5. The code of recommended practice should have the sole purpose of establishing provisional retention levels for subsequent confirmation by field trial. 6. IRG should list and approve test procedures considered adequate to establish toxic thresholds for preservatives against soft rot fungi. 7. It should be clearly understood that when using a series of test techniques, it is inevitable that a range of toxic thresholds will be obtained for the same preservative. 8. Guidelines should be drawn up for interpretation of test data for subsequent transformation to provisional retention levels. 9. Adoption of the broad principles outlines above is recognition of the dynamic nature of toxic thresholds. The additional information obtained by a more flexible, and complex, approach to testing may make interpretation more difficult but should provide data from which response of preservatives to varying biological and environmental hazards can be more realistically assessed. 10. It is recommended that CEN adopt, in principle, the basic philosophy of testing outlined above and move towards formulation of a Working Document in collaboration with IRG
J A Butcher, D J Dickinson


An analysis of the effects of some factors on the natural durability of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and spruce (Picea abies Karst.)
1986 - IRG/WP 1279
The effects of some factors on the natural resistance of pine and spruce sapwood against fungal decay and against attack of house-longhorn beetle larvae have been studied in laboratory tests and the results are evaluated by analysis of variance and regression analysis. Following conclusions were reached: Wood from summer-felled trees did not have a lower inherent natural durability against fungal ...
J B Boutelje, T Nilsson, S Rasmussen


Utilisation of carbohydrates by stain fungi in agar culture
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10248
Stain fungi are often defined by their ability to utilise the starch and free sugars found in ray parenchyma cells, and their inability to utilise other wood constituents. However, several species of stain fungi produce bore holes in wood cell walls. This suggests that enzymatic activity capable of degrading structural polysaccharides and/or lignin is associated with the growth of the appressorium...
J Snow, P Vinden, S M Read


Biological control of sapwood-inhabiting fungi by living bacterial cells of Streptomyces rimosus as a bioprotectant
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1564
The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of antifungal activity of living bacterial cells for the protection of wood against sapwood-inhabiting fungi. The following sapwood-inhabiting fungi were selected: sapstain --Ceratocystis coerulescens, Ceratocystis minor, Ceratocystis pilifera, and Aureobasidum pullulans; mold fungi --Aspergillus niger, Penicillium spp, and Trichoderma spp. L...
S C Croan, T L Highley


Neem leaves, a potential source for protection of hardwood against wood decaying fungus
2005 - IRG/WP 05-30370
Neem leaves are widely recognized for their insecticidal, pesticidal, fungistatic and fungitoxic ability. The present study is to investigate the efficacy of neem leaves extractives against wood destroying microbes, a brown and a white rot. Neem leaves extractives prepared in various solvents such as petroleum ether, acetone, ethanol, methanol and hot water were tested at a concentration levels of...
S Dhyani, S Tripathi, V K Jain


Degradation of resin constituents in various wood species by the white rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55
1999 - IRG/WP 99-10301
In previous studies, the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55 was shown to cause extensive degradation of lipophilic extractives (resin) in Scots pine wood. Further research was carried out in order to investigate the ability of Bjerkandera sp. for reducing resinous constituents in various softwood (Douglas fir, larch and spruce) and hardwood species (birch, beech and poplar). The greates...
J Dorado, T A Van Beek, F W Claassen, R Sierra-Alvarez


The action of siderophores isolated from Gloeophyllum trabeum on the structure and crystallinity of cellulose compounds
1991 - IRG/WP 1479
Low molecular weight, high affinity iron-binding compounds (siderophores) were isolated from the brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum. The compounds were shown to be inducible by iron starvation and could be purified by ultra-filtration, ethyl acetate extraction, column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The isolated compounds were shown by analytical and immunological techniques to be produced...
J Jellison, V Chandhoke, B Goodell, F Fekete, N Hayashi, M Ishihara, K Yamamoto


The influence of timber species and preservative treatment on spore germination of some wood-destroying Basidiomycetes
1988 - IRG/WP 2300
Basidiospores from six wood decay fungi exhibited varying germination rates on untreated softwood and hardwood blocks. Germination inhibition of all test fungi was recorded on pine sapwood. No preference for a certain timber species by a particular fungus was evident. Whereas almost complete inhibition of germination occurred on wood treated with a quarternary-ammonium based wood preservative, mos...
B M Hegarty, G Buchwald


Effect of fungal degradation on the chemical composition of acetylated beech wood
2003 - IRG/WP 03-40267
This study investigated the impact of fungal attack on the chemical composition of acetylated wood. Beech wood acetylated to different degrees was exposed to decay by the white-rot fungus Trametes versicolor under solid-state fermentation conditions. Laboratory soil-bed assays were also conducted to study the degradation of acetylated wood by soft rot fungi and other soil-inhabiting microorganisms...
H Militz, Dong-won Son, L Gómez-Hernández, R Sierra-Alvarez


The microbial ecology of treated birch stakes in a soil-bed
1983 - IRG/WP 1209
The microbial ecology of small birch stakes exposed in soil beds in two Fungus Cellars was investigated. Patterns of fungal colonisation and decay initiation are described in untreated birch and copper fluosilicate-treated stakes. Results are based on fungal isolation onto selective media and direct light microscopical observations of decay features. In untreated stakes there was a rapid build-up ...
C P Clubbe


Wood preservation in Japan
1982 - IRG/WP 3218
The report indicates the importance of wood preservation in Japan, which is the world's largest importer. The main hazards of timber are listed, fungi, insects and marine borers. Besides wood preservation fire protection treatments are also important in Japan. Classifications are given of the durability and treatability of the timbers used. In describing the wood preservation industry, th...
S Amemiya, R Cockcroft


A model for attack at a distance from the hyphae based on studies with the brown rot Coniophora puteana
1995 - IRG/WP 95-10104
In timber infested by brown rot fungi, a rapid loss in strength is attributed to production of hydroxyl radicals (HO·) at a distance from the hyphae. The immediate precursor is Fenton's reagent (Fe(II)/H2O2), but the pathways leading to Fe(II) and H2O2 have remained unclear. Cellobiose dehydrogenase, purified from cultures of Coniophora puteana, will couple oxidation of cellodextrins to ...
S M Hyde, P M Wood


Partial characterization of inhibitors extracted from pine (Pinus sylvestris) sapwood active against germination of wood rotting fungi
1988 - IRG/WP 1351
Germination inhibitors in pine sapwood could be extracted and separated with the aid of solvent partitioning and chromatography on silicic acid. The inhibitory action was tested by three different bioassays. Active fractions have been characterized by TLC and HPLC. Inhibitory activity could be correlated with phenolic compounds. The minimum active concentration of inhibitors have been determined....
J Bjurman


Isolation of a gene from the melanin pathway of the sapstaining fungi Ophiostoma piceae using PCR
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10219
To prevent sapstaining fungi from discoloring wood, it is necessary to determine what factors affect the biosynthesis and characteristics of the pigment(s) and to identify the genes involved in the pathway. Using inhibitors and heterologous DNA probes from Alternaria alternata, we suggest that melanin, the pigment of Ophiostoma piceae, is produced by the dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) pathway. Recentl...
R Eagen, J Kronstad, C Breuil


Factors affecting decay rates in a fungus cellar
1985 - IRG/WP 2242
Birch and pine stakes treated with chromated copper arsenate and didecyldimethylammonium chloride were incubated in two soils in a "Fungus Cellar" test. At three month intervals, sets of stakes were inspected and assigned visual ratings or removed from the soil beds for weight loss determination. Preliminary results after nine months exposure have shown differences in the decay rates between birch...
P A McKaig


Degradation of woods by obligately anaerobic fungi
1990 - IRG/WP 1452
Little is known about the processes occurring during the degradation of wood by obligately anaerobic fungi. When woods from a range of hardwood species were incubated for 11 days with a strain of the Chytrid Neocallimastix frontalis many of the woods were measurably fermented; Fagus sylvatica (23%) was the most highly degraded. Microscopic examination of Populus tremuloides wood after incubation w...
K N Joblin, G E Naylor


A Novel Type of Multiple Cavity Attack in Wood Cell Walls of Heat-treated Timber Exposed in Seawater – Preliminary Observations
2004 - IRG/WP 04-10523
Samples of untreated and heat-treated Norway spruce and Douglas fir were submerged in Langstone Harbour, Portsmouth for 4 years at a depth of ca. 0.3 metres. The heat-treated samples had been prepared using the Plato process. Samples were initially assessed for the severity of marine borer damage and were then examined microscopically for evidence of microbial decay. Longitudinal and transverse wo...
R A Eaton, C Björdal, T Nilsson


Collaborative soft rot tests: Specific gravity loss resulting from soft rot
1973 - IRG/WP 227
It was proposed at the 5th meeting of Working Group II of the IRG in June 1973 in Lahti, Finland, that the specific gravity (swollen volume basis) of test blocks used in the IRG Collaborative Soft Rot Tests should be determined on all the blocks at the completion of the exposure period. Specific gravity determined on the basis of the oven dry weight and water swollen volume was selected because (1...
C R Levy


Movement of chloropicrin, Vapam, and methylisothiocyanate in southern pine and Douglas fir timbers
1987 - IRG/WP 3410
Douglas fir and southern pine timbers, 15.2 x 15.2 x 426 cm³ (6-in x 6-in x 14-ft), were "inoculated" with brown-rot and white-rot fungi as vapor-sensing agents to evaluate the movement and distribution of fungitoxic concentrations of chloropicrin, Vapam, and methylisothiocyanate (MIT) over a 20-week period. Residual fumigant in timbers was determined by a bioassay with Gloeophyllum trabeum. The ...
T L Highley


The use of organic wood preservatives in ground contact and the suitability of laboratory test procedures to determine their efficacy
1999 - IRG/WP 99-20175
Organic fungicides, such as propiconazole, have proven to be highly effective when used as a co-biocide in recently developed wood preservative formulations. They have however been ineffective when used as a stand alone preservative, particularly when used in ground contact (European Hazard class 4). Previous research, using the test methods of ENV 807 (1993), provided conflicting evidence regardi...
I J Herring, D J Dickinson


Bethoguard; A new wood protecting fungicide for use in metal free ground contact wood preservatives
2002 - IRG/WP 02-30301
Research has identified the limitations in both the spectrum of activity and permanence of organic biocides placed in wood in high hazard environments, particularly in the absence of heavy metals such as copper. More specifically, the control of soft rot decay in wood in soil contact has proven to be most problematic. The new organic biocide, Bethoguard; an oxathiazine, has demonstrated excellen...
S C Forster, G R Williams, M Van Der Flaas, M Bacon, J Gors


Pretreatment decay in poles of Pinus sylvestris
1987 - IRG/WP 1329
Storage damage by blue stain and decay in poles before impregnation has been increasingly observed during recent years and there have been reports that salt-impregnated poles today are of lower quality because of incipient decay being increasingly common. The attacks may have started at the time of cutting and then continued during the period of seasoning at the plant, which could be as long as tw...
H Lundström, M-L Edlund


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