Low molecular weight, high affinity iron-binding compounds (siderophores) were isolated from the brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum. The compounds were shown to be inducible by iron starvation and could be purified by ultra-filtration, ethyl acetate extraction, column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The isolated compounds were shown by analytical and immunological techniques to be produced in both culture and in degraded wood. GC-mass spectroscopy and NMR allowed characterization showing their phenolate nature and molecular mass. The chelators are capable of cleaving selected cellulose model compounds and preliminary results suggest siderophores may be able to effect the percent crystallinity of milled poplar wood. Siderophores, together with other non-enzymatic factors, may function as readily diffusible agents catalyzing the initial degradation of wood cell walls.

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