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Gypsum effects on ‘dry rot’ wood degradation as a function of environment
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10624
‘Dry rot’ fungi are a unique group of brown rot fungi that can degrade wood away from ground contact where other fungi fail to colonize. Successfully occupying this niche is partially due to efficient water and nutrient transport, but mobilizing elements, notably calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe), from adjacent building materials has also been implicated in their success. Here we report a series of t...
J Schilling, J Jellison


Practice Makes Perfect: A Biodeterioration Diagnostics Database that Makes Practice
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10648
Replacement of bio-based materials deteriorated by pests costs billions annually and wastes natural resources. Wood replacement rates have remained relatively stable despite significant advances in wood preservation. This may be explained, in part, by poor end-use by uninformed users and by inadequate pest management once products are in service. This problem may be exacerbated by two opposing fac...
J S Schilling


Serpula lacrymans – calcium, iron, and foundering wooden boats
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10691
Serpula lacrymans is one of the most destructive wood-degrading brown rot fungi in temperate environments. Its virulence has often been linked to its ability to grow over non-woody materials and extract calcium (Ca) or iron (Fe) to promote wood degradation in buildings. This fungus has also been a severe problem in historic wooden warships and in modern wooden vessels, sometimes leading to founder...
J S Schilling, S M Duncan


Toward an assessment of copper bioavailability in treated wood
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20445
Many modern wood preservative systems rely on copper (Cu). Some oxalate-producing fungi detoxify Cu by immobilizing it in crystals, and this may decrease its physiological availability (bioavailability). Cu bioavailability may also decrease during wood treatment. Cu retention in wood, however, is typically measured as a weight-to-volume concentration without an estimate of its bioavailability and ...
J S Schilling, J J Inda


Measuring fungal cellulolytic enzyme activity in degrading wood
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10753
An enzyme assay which measures enzyme activity directly from wood will assist in the fundamental understanding of the enzyme components of the decay mechanism of rot fungi and any changes in the presence of wood protectants. At present, to measure fungal carbohydrate degrading enzyme activity in the presence of wood, two methods are used: either 1) the enzyme is measured in the growth media contai...
S M Duncan, J S Schilling


Laboratory durability testing of preservative treated wood products – first attempts and observations
2023 - IRG/WP 23-20697
In the past, durability classes (DC) had been assigned to wood species, sometimes also to homogenously modified wood-based materials such as thermally modified wood. More recently, some standards allow for classifying the biological durability of chemically modified wood, preservative treated wood and wood composites. Even treated products may be subject to durability classification, but necessary...
C Brischke, M Sievert, M Schilling, S Bollmus