Previous reports have illustrated the involvement of extracellular mucilage (ECM) in wood decay by Basidiomycetes. Its production is investigated in a range of stain, mould and soft rot fungi in Corsican pine, Scots pine and European beech. Fungi examined were: Chaetomium globosum, Ceratocystis coerulescens, Trichoderma harzianum, Ophiostoma piceae, Mucor sp. and Penicillium. sp. The samples were examined in the frozen hydrated (FH) and freeze dried (FD) conditions using SEM. Most of the fungi tested produced ECM with the amounts produced varying from one fungus to the other. Different morphological forms of the mucilage were observed. ECM produced by C. coerulescens was mostly fibrillar, and interesting morphological forms of the ECM were associated with hyphae of T. harzianum. Small amounts of mucilage were produced by O. piceae and Penicillium sp. Further investigation is necessary on the ECM production in Mucor sp.

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