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Role of cell wall specific moisture content on the brown-rot fungal attack on wood
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40736
Wood is a hydroscopic resource because the cell wall polymers contain hydroxyl and other oxygen-containing groups that attract moisture through hydrogen bonding. Moisture content varies with changing moisture content in its environment. The moisture content in wood is responsible for many of the performance properties we observe. The strength properties of wood are dependent on the moisture con...
R M Rowell


10 year Report on COST E37 Round Robin Tests – Comparison of results from laboratory and field tests
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30718
A round robin involving 15 European participants was set up in 2006. The round robin consisted of both a field test according to the double layer test method and a laboratory test with two different preconditioning methods. The laboratory test results were reported in an earlier IRG paper (IRG/WP13-20535) but are included also in this paper in order to facilitate the comparison with the field test...
M Westin, E Conti, J Creemers, P-O Flæte, A Gellerich, I Irbe, M Klamer, E Melcher, R Moeller, L Nunes, S Palanti, L Reinprecht, E Suttie, H Viitanen


Prevention of fungal damage of oil and date palm wood by organic acids
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10877
Felled palm trunks are susceptible to fungi as long as their moisture content is above fibre saturation. During this period, palm wood has to be protected against mould and rot fungi. Environmental-friendly organic acids are suitable. Small samples of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) wood were treated with 1 to 10% solutions of acetic acid and propionic acid, respec...
M Bahmani, O Schmidt


The First Description of Soft-rot Cavity in Waterlogged Archaeological Woods by a Japanese Wood Anatomist Prof. F. Onaka in 1935
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10885
The term soft rot, which was caused by Ascomycetes and Deuteromycetes, was first used by J G Savory in 1954. Soft rot decay can be characterized by cavities within secondary cell walls align along the cellulose microfibrils. Our recent literature search revealed, however, that Prof. F. Onaka in Kyoto University described the soft rot cavities in the waterlogged archaeological woods in detail from ...
Yoon Soo Kim, K Yamamoto


Untreated and copper-treated wood soaked in sodium oxalate: Effects of decay by copper-tolerant and copper-sensitive fungi
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10888
Copper is widely used as the primary component in wood protectants because it demonstrates a broad range of biocidal properties. However, a key concern with using copper in wood preservative formulations is the possibility for brown-rot basidiomycetes to resist the toxic effect. Many brown-rot basidiomycetes have evolved mechanisms, like the production and accumulation of oxalate, which helps thes...
K M Ohno, G T Kirker, A B Bishell, C A Clausen


Redwood Durability in NZ – Can pure culture laboratory tests predict outdoor service life
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20610
Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is an alternative species in New Zealand to the large scale Pinus radiata plantations. Redwood is classified as moderately durable but its durability is extremely variable. In order to reduce this variability in future stock, understanding growth conditions, clone, and tree age effects are important however this involves many samples and is not suitable for ass...
D O’Callahan, C Chittenden, J van der Waals, D Meason, T Singh


Monitoring Diversity and Colonization Patterns of Wood-Inhabiting Fungi Using Field Stake Tests
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20614
Advances in molecular identification of microbial communities enabling rapid microorganism determination have allowed ecological data to be increasingly incorporated into standardized wood performance tests. Combining standard field tests with molecular methods to study wood-associated microflora can help to better understand fungal colonization and decay processes of wood in service. The potentia...
P Torres-Andrade, J Cappellazzi, J J Morrell


Activity of Two Strobilurin Fungicides Against Three Species of Decay Fungi in Agar Plate Tests
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30704
The objective of this study was to examine the toxicity of strobilurin fungicides against wood decay fungi in order to assess their potential to act as a co-biocide for copper-based wood protection. Two strobilurin fungicides, Heritage (50% azoxystrobin active ingredient) and Insignia (20% pyraclostrobin active ingredients), and copper sulfate pentahydrate were tested against one white rot fungus...
J D Tang, T Ciaramitaro, M Tomaso-Peterson, S V Diehl


Thermal stability of a wood protective biofinish and the influence of flame retardants on Aureobasidium cells
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30716
In general there is an increasing need for sustainable resources, including sustainable building materials. Wood is one of these sustainable resources and is more used as an outdoor building material. Since unprotected wood will usually be degraded during outdoor exposure, many different protection systems are available on the market. Protection systems containing biocides however might create obs...
S Rensink, E A M Klein Rot, M F Sailer


Hybrid green composites manufactured with glass fiber and jute fabric skin by VARTM process: Fungal, mold, and termite resistance tests
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40780
Hybrid green composites are increasingly used in building applications due to the development of new production approaches. Biological performance of such composites is needed when they are employed in extreme conditions. Hybrid composite panels were manufactured by wood furnish, glass fiber, and jute fabric skin by the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). Petri dish test method was fol...
S N Kartal, E Terzi, M Muin, A H Hassanin, T Hamuoda, A Kilic, Z Candan


Enhancing Our Understanding of Brown Rot Mechanisms through Catalytic Pretreatment and Cellulase Cocktail
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10909
A catalytic mechanism, described as the “chelator-mediated Fenton” (CMF) mechanism, is proposed to mimic the non-enzymatic action of brown rot fungi. A CMF treatment was used together with an enzymatic cocktail to study how wood was deconstructed and solubilized. This was done in-part to determine if the treatment mimicked the action of brown rot fungi, but also to explore improved treatment p...
S Tabor, L Orjuela, D Contreras, G Alfredsen, J Jellison, S Renneckar, B Goodell


Natural resistance of Bambusa vulgaris to termite and powder-post beetle attack in laboratory and graveyard tests
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10925
Deterioration is the major setback to the utilisation of bamboo products. To enhance bamboo utilization, an understanding of the level of resistance to degradation is important. In this study, level at which Bambusa vulgaris will naturally resistant attack by subterranean termites and powder-post beetles were evaluated. B. vulgaris aged 2, 3 and 4 years were subjected to attack by subterranean ter...
N A Sadiku, S O Bada


Testing the durability of timber products above ground using the block-test method – A critical review
2018 - IRG/WP 18-20637
The block-test method for testing the durability of wood and wood products above ground is reviewed critically with respect to practical aspects, moisture loads, corresponding decay development, and the possibilities of assessing test specimens by determining the dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOEdyn) of wood. In total, 36 blocks representing different modifications of the original set-up and a wi...
C Brischke, A Gellerich, H Militz


Performance of acetylated wood in aquatic applications
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40822
Acetylation of wood to enhance its resistance against wood decaying fungi and insects has been studied extensively under both laboratory and terrestrial field trials. Also several studies are investigating the performance of acetylated wood in marine and fresh water exposures. This paper updates nine year marine tests with acetylated radiata pine in Hejlsminde (Denmark) and presents data on 3 year...
F Bongers, S Palanti, A Gellerich, J J Morrell, J Creemers, J Hague


FTIR-ATR monitoring of chemical changes of thermo-chemically modified beech wood degraded by brown-rot fungus
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40823
Wood chemical modification with lactic acid oligomers (OLA) has been reported to confer promising properties for wood outdoors applications. To better understand the lactic acid interaction with wood, chemical changes following biological degradation have been characterized with a battery of tests. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been proved to be a valuable tool for studying fu...
C Grosse, M Noël, M-F Thevenon, P Gérardin


Resistance of modified wood to termite attack assessed in laboratory and field testing: A review of internal research
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40824
Within the past decades, new wood modification technologies have been investigated in order to improve certain wood characteristics and enable the use of timber products for outdoor applications. Some of these non-biocidal technologies have been developed and commercialized recently. Thus, various material properties were studied intensively and shown to be improved. To a great extent, previous re...
L Emmerich, P Gascón-Garrido, H Militz


Long-term performance of DMDHEU-treated wood exposed in ground, above ground and in the marine environment
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40825
Chemical wood modification with N-methylol compounds such as 1.3-dimethylol-4.5-dihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU) has been studied intensively since the 1990s. Research of the past years focused on treatment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) and was shown to be applicable to improve specific material properties. A high resistance against wood-destroying ...
L Emmerich, H Militz, C Brischke


Recent findings clarifying the mechanism of brown-rot decay protection in acetylated wood
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40827
This paper summarizes the findings obtained during my PhD research over the past three years. The results provide insights which help to understand the enhanced brown-rot decay resistance of acetylated wood with particular emphasis on the role of water. The protection acetylation provides is derived from moisture exclusion within the acetylated cell wall, but the exact mechanism by which water is ...
G Beck


Non-stochiometric oxidation and ROS generation promoted by guaiacol lignin structures and lignocelluose surfaces may be a component of brown rot fungal degradation mechanisms
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10937
Model guaiacol compounds representing lignin monomers, as well as DHP-lignin and wood flour of controlled particle size were used to assess iron reduction at the pH of the natural wood cell wall. All compounds functioned as electron donors for ferric iron, with the lignin monomers demonstrating capacity for non-stochiometric reduction of iron with multiple moles of ferric ion reduced per mole of l...
Y Tamarua, M Yoshidaa, L D Eltisb, B Goodell


Identifying the fungal community on western redcedar (Thuja plicata) wood in field tests above and in ground contact exposure: preliminary results
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10939
Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) is a high value species in the Canadian forest industry due in large part to the natural durability of its heartwood. Western redcedar heartwood contains extractives that are inhibitory to the growth of many fungi responsible for decay. In order to gain insights into which extractives are important in long term durability, and which fungi are important to decay of ...
A Dale, S Kus, R Stirling


Performance of untreated timbers in above ground decking tests: Preliminary results from an international collaborative trial
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10940
The ability to accurately predict wood decay risks under varying environmental conditions has long been of interest to timber users. Accurate predictions are difficult owing to the myriad of variables associated with the decay process including wood species, wood inhabiting organisms, timber building element design and environmental conditions. Despite these difficulties, decay predictions have be...
L P Francis, J Norton, E Melcher, A H H Wong, J Kok Lai, M Klamer, M J Konkler, J J. Morrell


Characterization of Pectinases from Brown-rot Fungus Fomitopsis palustris
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10951
Brown-rot fungi occur on softwood used as building materials and cause destructive breakdown of wood structure. Therefore, a more accurate understanding is important from the perspective of wood protection. Previous studies have reported that hyphae of brown-rot fungi go through bordered pits on tracheids when the fungi grow into softwood [Francis W.M.R.Schwarze (2007)], and torus existing in the ...
Y Tanaka, N Konno, T Suzuki, N Habu


Hydroxyl accessibility - A brief review of deuterium exchange studies on modified wood
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20656
Wood modification imparts dimensional stability and decay resistance. The mechanism(s) by which this occurs are thought to be related to the bulking of the wood cell wall and subsequent moisture exclusion. Hence, quantification of accessible hydroxyl (OH) groups is of great interest when evaluating and increasing the understanding of the performance of modified wood. The aim of this study was to b...
G Beck, C Hill, G Alfredsen


Impact of water holding capacity and moisture content of soil substrates on the moisture content of wood in terrestrial microcosms
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20662
Terrestrial microcosms (TMC) are frequently used for testing the durability of wood and wood-based materials as well as the protective effectiveness of wood preservatives. In contrary to experiments in soil ecology sciences, the experimental set-up is usually rather simple. However, for service life prediction of wood exposed in ground, it is of immanent interest to better understand the different...
C Brischke, F L Wegener


Biocidic effect of nano metal fluorides against brown-rot fungi
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30732
Metal fluoride nanoparticles are promising because of their low water solubility, which reduces the need for fixatives required in widely used active ingredients in wood preservatives such as copper and boron. The effectiveness of nano metal fluorides was compared to sodium fluoride treated wood samples. Wood specimens treated with homo-dispersed sols of MgF2 and CaF2 were tested against brown-rot...
S M Usmani, K Klutzny, I Stephan, E Kemnitz


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