IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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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


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


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


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.


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


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


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


Determination of thermal degradation of isothiazolone treated wood
1997 - IRG/WP 97-30154
Wood treated with 4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one was the subject of thermal degradation study. The study included burning isothiazolone treated wood under various temperatures with and without oxygen. The result showed that no harmful combustion products, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans and polychlorinated biphenyls, were detected. These fin...
Bing Yu


Preservation of basidiomycete hyphae in ancient waterlogged wood materials
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1536
Studies on waterlogged archaeological wood show that basidiomycete hyphae may persist as long as 800 years. In two pine wood samples with Phellinus pini heartrot, one from the foremast of the ship Vasa and the other from a bulwark constructed in the first part of the 12th century, numerous resin covered hyphae were observed. Hyphae with clamp connections that were associated with brown and white r...
T Nilsson, G F Daniel


Immunolabelling studies on the detection of enzymes during the degradation of wood by Phanerochaete chrysosporium
1988 - IRG/WP 1364
The degradation of lignin in native lignocellulosic substrates by white rot fungi is poorly understood. Biochemical studies have shown the involvement of a number extracellular ligninolytic enzymes released by white rot fungi which are capable of the oxidative conversion of DHP's (lignin model compounds) in vitro, but to date conclusive evidence for occurrence of these enzymes in wood und...
G F Daniel, T Nilsson, B Pettersson


Fungal degradation of wood treated with metal-based preservatives. Part 1: Fungal tolerance
1996 - IRG/WP 96-10163
In recent years, concerns have arisen about the leaching of heavy metals from wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), particularly because of the large amount of CCA treated wood that will be discarded in the coming years. The long term objectives of this work are to determine the fate of copper, chromium and arsenic with the aging and potential decay of CCA-treated wood, and to develop...
B Illman, T L Highley


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


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


Brief introduction of a research project on the wood materials from an ancient Byzantine port unearthed during drilling for underground rail tunnel in Istanbul
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10641
A research project has been recently started to evaluate some properties of wooden materials from the biggest port of ancient times called Port of Theodosius I in Istanbul, Turkey. The ruins of the ancient Byzantine port during the excavations were recently uncovered in the Yenikapi site where an underground rail tunnel construction has been in progress in Istanbul. The wooden objects unearthed fr...
A D Dogu, C Köse, S N Kartal, N Erdin


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


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