Mushroom-producing white-rotting basidiomycetes either do not colonize or else colonize very poorly on freshly prepared southern yellow pine wood chips. This study evaluates the resinous extractive content of southern yellow pine before and after treatment with colorless mutant blue-stain fungi. The blue-stain fungi penetrate into the sapwood of southern yellow pine and utilize nonstructural resinous extractives, simultaneously reducing the total resinous extractive content. Scanning electron microscopic examination showed that heavy mycelial growth with good sporulation occurred on the surface of wood chips within 2 days and in parenchyma cells within 6 days. Ophiostoma spp. removed 61.1% to 99.9% of the extractives from the southern yellow pine wood within a period of 4 to 5 days. We conclude that white-rot basidiomycetes can easily colonize and produce fruiting bodies on treated southern yellow pine wood wastes.

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