The stages of growth of soft-rot fungal hyphae in birch cell walls has been studied using transmission electron microscopy. These observations are compared with time-lapsed cinemicrographic studies on infection and cavity development within wood cell walls which show a start-stop hyphal growth pattern. The fine structure of hyphae during each stage of the decay process shows that hyphae penetrating the wood cell wall have dense, granular cell contents and few recognisable cell organelles. As cavities widen and the hyphae within them increase in size, a hyphal cell wall is laid down, septation occurs and cell organelles are present. At maturity, cavity hyphae become vacuolate, slightly distorted in form.

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