In the course of transmission electron microscopical investigations of pine wood decay by various brown- and white-rot fungi extracellular three-lamellar structures (TLS) formed by the fungi were found in specimens stained with ruthenium red. These structures occured in the lumen of the wood cell surrounding the hypha at the outermost layer of the fungal cell wall. In the course of the investigations these structures were also detected in fungi cultivated with glucose on a rotary shaker, where they showed forms similar to tubuli and vesicles. The three-lamellar structures formed by the white-rot fungus Sporotrichum pulverulentum, which were contained in the outermost cell wall layer, were isolated by disintegration of the fungal pellet and subsequent digestion of the fungal cell wall by snail enzyme. It was found that these structures are resistant to the enzymatic digestion and are composed of 80 to 90% carbohydrates, mainly consisting of glucose monomeres, 5 to 10% proteins, containing 5 fractions with molecular weights between 30000 and 200000, and finally 5 to 10% lipids which do not contain any phospholipid.

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