Epsilon Open Archive

Abstract

Fungal wood decay strategies are influenced by several factors, such as wood species,
moisture content, and temperature. This study aims to evaluate wood degradation characteristics of
spruce, beech, and oak after exposure to the white-rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor.
Both fungi caused high mass losses in beech wood, while spruce and oak wood were more resistant to
decay. The moisture content values of the decayed wood correlated with the mass losses for all three
wood species and incubation periods. Combined microscopic and chemical studies indicated that the
two fungi di ered in their decay behavior. While T. versicolor produced a decay pattern (cell wall
erosion) typical of white-rot fungi in all wood species, P. ostreatus caused cell wall erosion in spruce
and beech and soft-rot type I (cavity formation) decay in oak wood. These observations suggest that
P. ostreatus may have the capacity to produce a wider range of enzymes/radicals triggered by the
chemical composition of wood cell walls and/or local compositional variability within the cell wall.