IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by laccase
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10267
The degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by laccase was investigated. Laccase catalyzed oxidation of phenanthrene, solubilized in the surfactant Tween 20, exhibited an absolute requirement for the mediator compound 1-hydroxybenzotriazole. When Tween 80 was used as the solubilizing agent, the oxidation rates were more than six times higher as compared to Tween 20. Using the thiobar...
S Böhmer, E Srebotnik, K Messner


Field study: Wood degradation pattern in buildings and utility poles in tropical climates of Nigeria
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1521
The paper is the result of five years field study of wood degradation patterns in three ecological forest zones (Guinea Savannah, Tropical rain forest and mangrove forest zones, respectively). It involved 800 residential buildings and 700 electric overhead transmission poles. The methodology used was a modified Eslyn (6) test. A high rate of Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes attack especially on the ...
E O Onuorah


Prevention of non-microbial sapwood discolorations in hardwood lumber: chemical and mechanical treatments
1997 - IRG/WP 97-30137
Sapwood discolorations in hardwood lumber that are non-microbial in origin result from the formation of pigmented starch-like granules in ray parenchyma cells. These discolorations can be prevented by treating unseasoned lumber with an antioxidant (sodium bisulfite). Exposing unseasoned lumber to microwaves or treating logs with fumigants also will prevent these discolorations. Subjecting unseason...
T L Amburgey, S Kitchens


Fungal detoxification of organotin biocides
1985 - IRG/WP 1258
The ability of a range of wood decaying fungi to inactivate bis(tri-n-butyltin) oxide (TnBTO) in the extracellular growth medium, in stationary liquid culture was determined. A distinction between the ability to tolerate the fungicide and to inactivate it was made: the white-rot organism Coriolus versicolor being the most efficient inactivator. In an attempt to determine the extracellular agents r...
P S Belford, D J Dickinson


The relationship between preservative type and surface degrade in Pinus radiata
1980 - IRG/WP 3158
Samples of Pinus radiata D. Don were impregnated with one of two preservative types, a copper chrome arsenic salt and a light organic solvent preservative. The panels were exposed to the weather for 4-5 years at a site near Sydney, Australia. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations showed different rates and patterns of weathering between the samples treated with each preservative and an untreate...
R S Johnstone, R K Bamber


The involvement of extracellular substances for the generation of hydroxyl radical during wood degradation by white-rot fungi
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10218
The activities of one-electron oxidation, hydroxyl radical generation, and phenol oxidase during the incubation of cultures of four white-rot fungi containing either glucose or wood were periodically measured. Further, their degradation activities against wood were examined during the course of cultivation. The generation of hydroxyl radical was correlated to the activity of wood degradation and i...
H Tanaka, S Itakura, A Enoki


Micromorphology of oak wood degraded by brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10356
To characterize the degradation of hardwood by brown rot fungus, Coniophora puteana was incubated on the wood blocks of Quercus accutissima. For comparison, the same fungus was also incubated on the pine wood blocks of Pinus densiflora. In softwood, the shape of the wood cells and thickness of the cell appeared unchanged even the loss of birefringence in the affected areas. In contrast, oak wood d...
Yoon Soo Kim, Seung-Gon Wi, Kwang-Ho Lee


Persistence and residual activity of organophosphorus termiticides in soil and prevention against the degradation of chlorpyrifos
1991 - IRG/WP 1518
The persistence and the residual activity of four comercial organophosphorous termiticides, Chlorpyrifos, Fenitrothion, Tetrachlorvinphos, Pyridaphenthion, in soil were studied under laboratory conditions. The persistence and the residual activity of four organophosphorous termiticides in two types of soil decreased with the lapse of time. These termiticides were mostly degraded by microorganisms ...
T Iijima, M Tanaka, M Higaki


Biological degradation resistance of wood acetylated with thioacetic acid
1983 - IRG/WP 3223
Chemically, modification of wood is being considered as an alternative to conventional preservation by toxic chemicals. Acetylated wood has been reported to be quite resistant to most biodegrading organisms at weight percent gains (WPG) around 15-19. The conventional acetylation techniques with acethic anhyrdride result in generation of acetic acid. However, acetylation with thioacetic acid overco...
S Kumar, S C Agarwal


Chemical and biological investigations of double-vacuum treated windows after 7½ years in service
1985 - IRG/WP 3339
Earlier investigations of double-vacuum treated windows after five years in service have shown that tributyltin oxide (TBTO) degrades to di- and monobutyltin compounds and that the resistance of the wood against decay decreases. An investigation 2.5 years later of the same windows shows that the degradation of TBTO proceeds fast. After 7.5 years in service only 15-35% of the remaining organotin co...
M-L Edlund, J Jermer, B Henningsson, W Hintze


Screening of fungal strains for wood extractive degradation
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10254
Fungal strains were screened for their ability to degrade apolar extractives in wood from scots pine. The degradation of total wood extractives by 91 different strains was monitored in stationary batch assays incubated for 6 weeks. The results obtained show that the ability of wood-inhabiting fungi to utilize wood extractives varied greatly, even for different isolates of the same species. Fungal ...
J Dorado, M J Martinez-Inigo, T A van Beek, F W Claassen, J B P A Wijnberg, R Sierra-Alvarez


Microscopic FT-IR depth profiling study of photo-induced degradation in wood
2001 - IRG/WP 01-20229
FT-IR microspectroscopy was used to monitor the changes in the chemical composition at various depths from the photo-irradiated surface of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) sapwood. The radially cut wood face was exposed to artificial solar radiation from a xenon light source at 375 Wm-2 (in a 300 - 700 nm spectral range) for up to 600 h. The IR depth profiling spectra showed that the artificial ...
Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi.


Microbial ecology of treated lap-joints exposed at Hilo, Hawaii for 12 months
1996 - IRG/WP 96-20089
Lap-joints made from Southern yellow pine treated with ACQ, DDAC or Propiconazole were exposed and sampled over 12 months. TnBTO treated Lap-joints were later exposed as a standard treatment. The moisture content of the joint area remained at 23% to 28%, but, away from the joint, varied between 20% to over 30%. Untreated samples had higher moisture contents and there was little difference between ...
S Molnar, D J Dickinson, R J Murphy


Bacterial degradation of wood cell wall: A review of degradation patterns
1990 - IRG/WP 1460
Information from bacterial degradation studies of 60's and 70's was reviewed by Nilsson in 1982. The application of electron microscopy to this area in recent years has provided much useful information and has eliminated earlier scepticism among workers about the ability of bacteria to degrade lignified wood cell walls. Studies using transmission electron microscopy together with...
A P Singh, J A Butcher


Fumigation of red beech in New Zealand for prevention of graystain
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10343
The discoloration of sapwood of red beech (Nothofagus fusca) after drying has been an ongoing problem which may lower value of material for certain applications (such as flooring) by as much as 50%. The dark gray stain noted after the drying and planing of lumber is not prevented by fungicide dips, and is most likely similar to the enzyme-mediated stain noted in a variety of commercial hardwoods. ...
E L Schmidt, B Kreber


Feeding response of field populations of Coptotermes species to softwood blocks treated with non-toxic water-proofing and anti-microbial products.
2003 - IRG/WP 03-10487
The feeding response of field populations of the subterranean termite, Coptotermes lacteus, to Pinus radiata wood blocks (50 x 40 x40 mm) treated with various combinations of non-toxic and odourless water-proofing materials based on natural high molecular weight esters (TimberTreatÒ) and a new water insoluble quaternary ammonium compound (‘anti-microbial’) is described. Treated wood blocks we...
J R J French, T Pynsent, M Susic


The degradation of wood surfaces by dilute acids
1985 - IRG/WP 3326
Thin radial/longitudinal sections(~100 µ) of Corsican Pine (Pinus nigra) and Lime (Tilia vulgaris), were exposed to Sulphuric, Sulphurous, nitric, acetic, and formic acid at 40°C in the pH range 2-6. After about 3 months exposure to Sulphuric, nitric, acetic and formic acid at pH 2.0 Pine lost some 20-25% of its tensile strength. Losses in tensile strength due to sulphurous acid were greater bei...
P D Evans, W B Banks


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


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


Influence of the content of organic matter of soil on the degradation of wood by soft rot fungi
1970 - IRG/WP 27
The degradation of wood specimen burried in the soil by soft rot fungi is influenced by a number of factors. These are in particular the water holding capacity, water content, content of organic matter, pH, content of mineral nutritive substances etc. The results of the interlaboratory tests, carried out within the IRG/WP let presume that the intensity of wood degradation occurs proportionally inv...
O Wälchli


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


Effects of pre-harvest girdling on selected properties of red pine, red maple and Eastern larch
1999 - IRG/WP 99-40137
Trees of three species - tamarack (Larix laricina), soft maple (Acer rubrum) and red pine (Pinus resinosa) - were girdled immediately below the crown,one to two years before felling. The wood from these trees was compared with wood taken from un-girdled control trees felled at the same. Sapwood and heartwood, from the controls, and from above and below the girdle of treated trees, were examined fo...
A Taylor, P A Cooper


Microbial ecology of treated Lap-joints exposed at Hilo, Hawaii for 24 months
1997 - IRG/WP 97-20107
This paper is a continuation of previous work reported in IRG/WP 96-20089 by Molnar et al. (1996) in which Lap-joints, made from Southern yellow pine and treated with ACQ, DDAC or propiconazole were sampled over 12 months exposure at Hilo, Hawaii. 18 and 24 month samplings have since taken place and are reported here. TnBTO treated Lap-joints made of scots pine which were exposed later as a standa...
S Molnar, D J Dickinson, R J Murphy


CCA removal from treated wood by chemical, mechanical and microbial processing
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50101-26
Most preservative-treated wood produced and consumed in the U.S. is treated with toxic inorganic compounds containing copper, chromium, and arsenic. Because chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is fixed to the wood, treated wood has not been considered toxic or hazardous and is currently landfilled. Increasing public concern about environmental contamination from treated wood combined with increasing q...
C A Clausen, R L Smith


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