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Your search resulted in 153 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Decay pattern in external wooden structures
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11055
Decay in external wooden structures has historically been a universal problem of great concern. Despite this, the general understanding of where and why wood-decaying fungi are occurring is limited. The consequences of this are that decayed wood might not be detected and that measures to protect the wood against deterioration has limited effect. Wood decay in different geographical and climatic ...
J Mattsson, M S Austigard, A-C Flyen


Xerophilic mould fungi on new and historic wood
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11056
An examination of mould fungi in 35 medieval and ten 18th Century buildings shows mould growth to varying degrees on different surfaces. The analyses also show a rapid development of mould fungi on certain wooden surfaces in recent years. A significant difference in the growth between new and old wood is the clearly more extensive growth and different species composition of mould fungi on new wo...
J Mattsson, M S Austigard


Enzyme activities of Bursaphlenchus xylophilus and associated bacteria
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11057
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus or the pine wood nematode (PWN) is the causal agent of pine wilt disease, a destructive disease that affects coniferous masses. B. xylophilus causes severe economic, environmental, and social damage. The establishment of the disease depends on the ability of the PWN to degrade the lignocellulolytic material. Therefore, the study of enzymes able to hydrolyze these compone...
L Robertson, G Cebrián, D Gámez, L Fiorentini, S Rames, S Santos, M T Troya


Fungal degradation of oak timber bridges
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11058
Wood is increasingly recognised as an eco-friendly building material, but its organic nature makes it vulnerable to degradation, especially in outdoor applications exposed to moisture. This study investigates wood-decaying fungi affecting oak timber bridges in Hanover, Germany. The study aimed to identify the fungal species using culture-independent methods and to examine the impact of poorly exec...
L Schrader, J Trautner, C Brischke


Entomopathogenic organisms: Host-pathogen interactions
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11059
The management strategy of wood attacked by wood-eating insects has been until now by the application of insecticidal products used as biocides and/or repellents, or using physical treatments. This paper describes the use of entomopathogenic organisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes), normally used in agricultural systems, in order to study their possible transfer to wood-decay insects. ...
M T Troya, S Santos, L Robertson


Revealing the degradation process of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) by different decay fungi
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11060
Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is the main bamboo species for engineering; however, it is highly susceptible to various fungi during use. In this study, four prevalent decay fungi, including two brown rot fungi and two white-rot fungi, were used as the test fungi to investigate the changes in structure and chemical composition of Moso bamboo samples at different incubation times in order to be...
J Xue, D Cui, M Zhou, J Cao


Microbial symbionts in the shipworm gut: a new finding resolving a century old mystery explaining how shipworms digest lignin
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11061
Shipworms, historically known for their destruction of wooden ships and coastal structures, also play a key role in carbon and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Despite extensive research, the exact mechanisms underlying their ability to digest wood, and particularly how they digest lignin, have remained elusive. A better understanding of the way that they attack and digest wood will potenti...
B Goodell, J Chambers, D V Ward, C Murphy, E Black, L B K Mancilio, G Perez-Gonzalez, J R Shipway


Performance of Chromated Copper Arsenic Treated and Untreated Papua New Guinea Timber Species in Marine Exposure after 95 weeks (664 days)
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11062
A Masters’ thesis on the topic was successfully completed and submitted in September 2024. The thesis reports on results obtained from exposure of five Papua New Guinea (PNG) timber species (obtained from secondary growth or plantation grown) after 218 days (31 weeks) in a marine environment in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. The species studied were: Hopea iriana (Hopea, heavy), Vitex cofas...
E Galore, J Norton, T Singh


A comparison of methods – how to achieve a robust and conclusive durability classification of wood
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11063
The biological durability of wood is a relative and unitless size, and therefore wood species and wood-based materials are assigned to durability classes (DC). In Europe, such classes are based on a variety of measures, which can be absolute or relative to a non-durable reference species. The aim of efforts to develop and standardise methods for determining biological durability should be to ensur...
C Brischke


DURALARCH – Suitability of selected coloured coniferous heartwoods of different origin for their use in outdoor applications
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11064
For outdoor above-ground applications with high demands on biological durability, there are only a few softwoods available that also have high density and strength characteristics. One of the most important timbers with these material properties is Siberian larch (Larix sibirica, Larix gmelinii), which is available in sufficient quantities due to its large distribution area. Imports of Siberian la...
C Brischke, J Appelt, G Koch, S Majer, M Nopens, R Stirling, D Wong


Multifactorial analysis of the reasons behind wood natural durability
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11065
Physical, chemical and biological properties of several wood species were investigated in order to highlight the main factors involved in wood natural durability and wood characteristic using a principal component analysis. Interaction of wood with water were evaluated using contact angle measurements to determinate wood wettability by water and wood impregnability tests with water allowing to cal...
L-F E Nkogo, M S M Mouendou, S Dumarçay, P E Engonga, F Zannini, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin


Durability to wood decay fungi and subterranean termites of Quercus pyrenaica Wild
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11066
The use of wood has added value since it is renewable, biodegradable, and a recyclable material. For this reason, evaluating its natural durability is essential when establishing the level of protection required, depending on the designated end use. Natural durability is defined as the intrinsic resistance of wood against the attack of destructive organisms. There are standardised methods to estim...
S Santos, M T Troya, L Robertson, S Gutierrez, G Caballe, J L Villanueva


Evaluation of decay detection drill data – a semi-quantitative approach
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11067
Decay detection drilling and pick testing are common methods for evaluating decay in structural timber. In this study 63 poles in snow fence trusses at Finse in Norway, where climate change is expected to increase decay hazard, were evaluated by both drilling and pick testing. The aim of this study was to 1: assess a novel method to translate qualitative evaluation of drilling data into quantitati...
M S Austigard, J Mattsson, G Alfredsen, L Ross, N Bjerregaard Pedersen


Durability and molecular analysis of fungal communities in wood exposed above ground
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11068
The objective of the study was to explore the durability of wood exposed above ground, comprising a wide diversity of wood species and treatments and extensive assessment data on wood durability in ongoing long-term testing. Larch species and Scots pine heartwood, two tropical species ntholo and ncurri and a number of treated wood by copper-based formulations and alternatives (silanes, spiroborate...
N Högberg, D Panov, G Daniel, N Terziev


Detecting wood-decay fungi in walls: a non-destructive approach with an electronic nose
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11070
Wood-decay fungi degrade the structural integrity and safety of wooden buildings, leading to potential hazards and reduced durability. Conventional detection methods, such as visual inspection and destructive sampling, are often impractical for concealed spaces, such as those within walls or beneath floors. These methods often require specialised training and costly equipment, making non-destructi...
M Suzuki, T Miyauchi, S Isaji, R Naganawa


Interaction of cellulolytic enzymes with fungal cell wall polysaccharides
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11071
Wood rotting fungi are the primary agents responsible for the decomposition of wood in natural environments. These fungi secrete a variety of enzymes to degrade the chemically and structurally resistant components of the wood cell wall. Some of these enzymes possess a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM), which enhances enzymatic efficiency by increasing their affinity to the substrate. Previously, w...
K Fukabori, N Hattori, Y Kojima, R Iizuka, M Yoshida


Physiological characterization of a key enzyme involved in gaseous COS assimilation in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11072
Filamentous fungi are among the primary organisms responsible for the biological deterioration of wood, including wood decay and surface contamination. Therefore, understanding their physiological mechanisms is important for developing effective wood preservation strategies. Most physiological studies on filamentous fungi have focused on the metabolism of major elements, such as carbon in the form...
R Iizuka, A Ono, T Suzuki, Y Katayama, M Yoshida


Distribution of Crystalline Cellulose-Binding Domain CBM104 in Wood Rotting Fungi
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11073
Wood rotting fungi play a crucial role in biodeterioration of wood. Many brown-rot fungi are known to rapidly degrade cellulose in wood despite lacking enzymes with cellulose-binding domains. This has led to the hypothesis that they rely on a non-enzymatic degradation system. We recently discovered a novel cellulose-binding domain, CBM104, in the brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum. In this stud...
Y Kojima, N Sunagawa, M Aoki, S Tagawa, M Wada, K Igarashi, M Yoshida


Investigation of oxalic acid production in brown-rot fungi
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11074
Brown-rot fungi play a crucial role as wood decomposers in forests and are also known as the main cause of biodeterioration of wooden buildings in Japan. Therefore, understanding their decomposition mechanisms is important for the maintenance and preservation of wooden structures. While white-rot fungi generally use enzyme-system for degradation, many brown-rot fungi lack cellobiohydrolases which ...
S Matsumoto, R Tsukida, T Ito, M Iritani, M Yoshida


Interaction between AA9 lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase and PQQ-dependent pyranose dehydrogenase in cellulose degradation
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11075
Wood-decaying fungi degrade cellulose, the primary polysaccharide in wood, as a nutrient source by utilising various hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes. Among these, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO9) has gained attention as a key enzyme that enhances the degradation efficiency of other cellulases. The activity of LPMO9 requires both electrons and hydrogen peroxide. It has been reported that...
H Murai, Y Kojima, E G Kommedal, V G H Eijsink, M Yoshida


Functional Analysis of Cellobiose Dehydrogenase from the Saprotrophic Basidiomycete Coprinopsis cinerea
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11076
The plant saprophytic fungi including wood rotting fungi secrete various extracellular hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes to degrade wood cell wall. Among these, cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) is known as a flavoheme enzyme composed of a flavin domain with FAD and a b-type heme domain. CDH oxidises the reducing end of cellobiose, and transfers electrons to redox partners such as lytic polysaccharide...
Y Sakka, A Hosaka, M Yoshida


Exploration of flavoenzymes from the wood rotting basidiomycete Armillaria cepistipes using protein structure prediction
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11077
Wood rotting basidiomycete is one of the major organisms that cause wood deterioration. Oxidoreductases secreted by those fungi are known to play key roles in the mechanism of wood cell wall degradation. As certain extracellular oxidoreductases including lignolytic peroxidases and lytic-polysaccharide monooxygenases from wood rotting fungi utilise hydrogen peroxide as a substrate in their catalyti...
Y Tamaru


Effect of the Cellulose-Binding Domain Associated with Xylanase on the Degradation of Softwood and Hardwood Xylan
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11078
Brown rot fungi rapidly degrade hemicellulose, which is recognized as a key decomposition process during the early stages of wood decay. Brown rot fungi possess multiple genes encoding hemicellulose-degrading enzymes, suggesting that enzymatic hydrolysis plays an important role in this process. Hemicellulases produced by these fungi often contain an additional domain classified as carbohydrate-bin...
R Tsukida, Y Kojima, S Kaneko, M Yoshida


Natural and enhanced durability of wood exposed above ground
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11079
Understanding and predicting the durability of wood is essential for ensuring its effective use, long-term reliability, and sustainability in various applications. To address this need, the "Wood Above Ground" project was initiated in 1999 at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) to investigate the natural durability of wood species under a wide range of above-ground exposure scenarios. This ex...
R Digaitis, J Stenbaek, A W Christof, N Morsing, B Lindegaard


From Wet to Preserved: Collecting Data of Waterlogged Wood Treated with PEG in Lanyan Museum and Study the Effect of Molecular Weight on Dimensional Stability
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11080
Waterlogged archaeological wood are most commonly unearthed in Yilan County, with over one-third originating from the Yilan Agricultural School site. This study aims to analyse the current state of conservation of waterlogged archaeological wood in Yilan County and hopes to properly alleviate the irreversible damage caused to the waterlogged archaeological wood after they leave the water layer. Ho...
K-L Huang, P-Y Kuo


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