Copper-chrome-arsenic treated heartwood from Malaysian hardwood utility poles in service for 8-23 y at two localities in the wet tropical Peninsula Malaysia were surveyed for soft rot in the ground-contact region. Soft rot decay was detected in all the poles. Isolation studies indicated the ability of a variety of microfungi and basidiomycetes to colonize treated heartwood. Most isolates exhibited variable soft rot ability based on a combination of soft rot tests. A few of the isolates formed soft rot cavities (decay types 1 & 2) and belonged to genera previously found associated with soft rot decay. In particular, isolates of Chaetomium globosum and Phialophora occurred frequently on the surface of sampled poles, while Paecilomyces variotii occurred at all sampling depths from the wood surface. It appeared that soft rotting ability of selected isolates (determined from both mass loss and dilute alkali solubility of degraded native cellulose) was affected by the choice of incubation temperatures.

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