Two methods that are currently being employed to detect and identify wood decay fungi are Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) analysis and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. A FAME library and RFLP library for 9 species and up to 10 strains within each species have been developed. The profiles generated by these methods have been compared for each species and strain to test for accurate species identification and consistency within species strains. Single FAME libraries were created for Trametes versicolor and T. pubescens, indicating that all isolates of these species clustered as a single species. More than one FAME library was created for P. chrysosporium, P. sordida, Gloeophyllum trabeum, G. sepiarium, G. striatum and T. hirsuta, indicating that not all isolates of these species clustered as a single species. Blind samples could not distinguish between isolates of T. pubescens and T. hirsuta nor G. sepiarium and G. striatum. Restriction enzyme digestion with AluI, TaqI, RsaI, HaeIII, DraI, and Hinf reliably resolved species; however, no single restriction enzyme profile was sufficient to resolve all of the species groups. The species groups could be resolved with the combined information from Alu I and Taq I restriction profiles, while the addition of Hinf and /or Hae III restriction profiles improved resolution within species and between species. The addition of all other restriction profiles added more but not significantly more resolution within and between species. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop a sensitive and reliable assay to survey the wood decay community and accurately detect important wood decay fungal species.

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