Production and Degradation of Oxalic Acid by Brown Rot Fungi

Production and degradation of oxalic Acid by brown rot fungi.

Our results show that all of the brown rot fungi tested produce oxalic acid in liquid as well as in semisolid cultures. Gloeophyllum trabeum, which accumulates the lowest amount of oxalic acid during decay of pine holocellulose, showed the highest polysaccharide-depolymerizing activity. Semisolid cultures inoculated with this fungus rapidly converted C-labeled oxalic acid to CO(2) during cellul...

Induction of polygalacturonase and the formation of oxalic acid by pectin in brown-rot fungi.

Extracellular polygalacturonase (PG) production was estimated in vitro, using liquid cultures of three species of brown-rot decay fungi (Postia placenta, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Serpula incrassata), by cup-plate assay, assay of reducing sugars, and decrease in viscosity. Although all three experimental assays demonstrated that PG was induced by pectin in all three fungi, decrease in viscosity ...

Oxidative Degradation of Wood by Brown-Rot Fungi

Brown-rot fungi are Basidiomycetes that remove cellulose and other polysaccharides from wood, leaving an amorphous, brown, crumbly residue that is composed largely of lignin, hence the name brown-rot. Decay by brown-rot fungi is by far the most serious type of damage to wood in-service. These fungi cause structural failure before losses in total wood substance are detected. The effect of brown-...

Pectin degradation during colonization of wood by brown-rot fungi

Brown-rot decay results in rapid reduction in degree of polymerization of holocellulose, with concomitant strength loss without removing lignin. Development of new methods of wood protection will require focusing on early events in the sequence of fungal attack during colonization. Pit membranes (sapwood) of wood cell walls represent a readily available source of nonlignified carbohydrate, i.e....

Role of oxalic acid in incipient brown-rot decay