When used in constructions not in contact with the ground, wood has been shown often to proceed from blue stain to moulds. The appearance of wood rotting fungi is normally delayed. Solid wood artificially inoculated with the blue stain fungus Pullularia pullulans was shown to permit germination of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus basidiospores. This was demonstrated by the use of an indirect and a direct bioassay, where spores were applied directly on the wood surface. Fresh wood did not permit germination. Phenolic compounds were shown to be degraded. In in vitro cultures four other blue stain fungi and one thermotolerant mould were tested for their ability to degrade phenolic spore germination inhibitors extracted from pine sapwood. In addition, the degradation of pure phenolic compounds related to lignin were studied. A marked effect of the medium was revealed. The normal succession during colonization of wood not in contact with the ground by fungi could thereby be partly explained.

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