DEGRADATION OF WOOD BY THE BASIDIOMYCETE CORIOLOPSIS-OCCIDENTALIS

Chemical and microscopic features of wood decay by the basidiomycete C oriolopsis occidentalis are described. The fungus was grown on blocks of poplar, oak, and fit wood and caused significant mass, lignin, and saccharide losses in all kinds of wood. Poplar wood was particularly s trongly affected. Twelve weeks after inoculation dry mass, lignin, and saccharide contents were reduced by about 50 %. The blocks became cov ered with mycelia and electron microscopy showed that secondary cell w alls were degraded from the lumina and middle lamellae dissolved durin g later stages of incubation. The results indicate that the fungus bel ongs to simultaneous white-rotters.