The activities of one-electron oxidation and phenol oxidase during incubation of cultures of the white-rot basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora containing either glucose or wood were periodically measured. Further, the degradation activities against wood and filter paper were examined during the course of cultivation. Weight losses of Japanese beech wood and Japanese cedar wood after 12 weeks were about 20% and 15%, respectively. Weight loss of filter paper was about 23% after 9 weeks. The one-electron oxidation and phenol oxidase activities in wood-containing cultures were higher than those in glucose-containing cultures. Extracellular low-molecular-weight substance has been isolated and has been characterized to compare with the substances from other wood degrading fungi that catalyze a redox reaction between O2 and electron donors to produce hydroxyl radicals. The mechanism on wood degradation caused by the white-rot fungus C. subvermispora is discussed.

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