Surface Area of Wood Influences the Effects of Fungal Interspecific Interaction on Wood Decomposition—A Case Study Based on Pinus densiflora and Selected White Rot Fungi

Abstract

Wood decomposer basidiomycetes are the major agents of lignocellulose decomposition in dead wood. As their interspecific interaction affects wood decomposition, difference in interaction area may alter the magnitude of the effects. This study examines the effects of wood surface area on decomposition by interacting basidiomycetes using laboratory incubation experiments with pine sapwood as a model. Two types of pine wood blocks with equal volume but identical surface area were prepared for colonization by one of four white rot basidiomycete species. The colonized wood blocks were then placed on agar media already colonized by the same strain or one of the other species, simulating fungal monoculture and interspecific interactions on wood surface. Results demonstrated that the decay rate of wood was greater in wood with larger surface, and wood decay was accelerated by the interaction of two fungal species in wood with larger surface but not in wood with smaller surface. In contrast, lignin decomposition was influenced by the competitor in wood with smaller surface but not in wood with larger surface. These results suggest that the observed promotion of decay by fungal interspecific interaction might not be attributable to the resource partitioning between fungal species but to the accelerated carbon of competition cost compensation in this case.

White Rot Fungi as Tools for the Bioremediation of Xenobiotics: A Review

“…They transform and degrade lignocellulosic compounds, playing a main role in the carbon cycle on our planet [40,41]. They have adaptive abilities that allow them to grow in and tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions, acting as natural degraders of lignocellulose [42,43].…”

Establishment of patterns in the thermal modification of dry pine wood

“…Study [5] analyzed the influence of wood surface area on decomposition through the interaction of basidiomycetes using laboratory incubation experiments with pine sapwood as a model. Two types of pine samples with the same volume but different surface area were prepared for colonization with one of the four species of white rot basidiomycetes.…”