Degradation of wood by the basidiomycete Coriolopsis occidentalis

Chemical and microscopic features of wood decay by the basidiomycete Coriolopsis occidentalis are described. The fungus was grown on blocks of poplar, oak, and fir wood and caused significant mass, lignin, and saccharide losses in all kinds of wood. Poplar wood was particularly strongly affected. Twelve weeks after inoculation dry mass, lignin, and saccharide contents were reduced by about 50%. The blocks became covered with mycelia and electron microscopy showed that secondary cell walls were degraded from the lumina and middle lamellae dissolved during later stages of incubation. The results indicate that the fungus belongs to simultaneous white-rotters.