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Protecting wood exterior infrastructures above ground in Spain. The importance of protection by design in the performance
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40874
Across Spain is very common to find wood exterior infrastructures build mainly in sawn and glue-laminated wood. Most of these exterior wood infrastructures use softwood wood species such as: fir, spruce, larch and pine. In Spain exterior wood infrastructures, became more and more popular since nineties, when sawn and glue-laminated wood were utilized for building exterior wood infrastructures in o...
D Lorenzo, M Touza, J Fernandez-Golfín, A Lozano, J Benito, M T Troya, L Robertson


Exploring the use of X-ray micro CT as a tool for the monitoring of moisture production and mass loss during lab-based fungal degradation testing
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20654
Bio-based building materials, such as wood and wood-engineered products, are susceptible to degradation by decay fungi. In-depth knowledge on the intricate material-fungus relationship as well as performance data for many bio-based building materials are still lacking, and especially knowledge on how a material’s structure and moisture properties affect the degradation process is missing. Althou...
L De Ligne, J Van den Bulcke, A De Muynck, J M Baetens, B De Baets, L Van Hoorebeke, J Van Acker


Durability and climate change - implications for wood building structures
2019 - IRG/WP 19-50361
Sustainable building practices are rooted in the need for reliable information on the long-term performance of building materials; specifically, the expected service-life of building materials, components, and assemblies. This need is ever more evident given the anticipated effects of climate change on the built environment and the many governmental initiatives world-wide focused on ensuring that ...
M Lacasse


Different levels of acetylation lead to groupwise upregulation of non-enzymatic wood degradation genes of Rhodonia placenta during initial brown-rot decay
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10958
Rhodonia placenta, often used as a model fungus to represent brown rot fungi, uses a two-stepped degradation mechanism to degrade wood. Regarding the overcoming of wood protection systems the initial degradation phase seems to be the crucial point. A new laboratory test enables the separation of the non-enzymatic oxidative and the enzymatic degradation phases, which has previously been proven chal...
M Kölle, R Ringman, A Pilgård


FTIR analysis of wood blocks decayed by brown-rot fungi
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10959
Calibration curves of the relative lignin contents in Cryptomeria japonica decayed by brown-rot fungi were developed with Infrared Spectroscopy and Klason technique. First, wood decay test was conducted using brown-rot fungi (Fomitopsis palusris, F. pinicola, Wolfiporia cocos, Gloeophyllum trabeum, and Neolentinus suffrutescens) and white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) was used as a comparison. ...
R Kondo, Y Horikawa, R Kose, M Yoshida


Moisture and temperature conditions in an old, highly moisture-loaded timber building in the Røros municipality, Norway
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10966
A 150 years old log building near Røros, Norway, has been in active use as a cowshed since its erection. The animals are kept inside the cowshed all winter and this causes a situation of a high moisture load on the wooden floor, wooden walls and ceiling. Logging of temperature and humidity over one year shows that there are favourable levels of moisture in the wood and air for development of moul...
M Sand Austigard, J Mattsson


Profiling fungal degradation of Scots pine sapwood by short wave infrared hyperspectral image analysis
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20667
Hyperspectral image analysis of Scots pine sapwood wood affected by decay fungi has been carried out as part of a Ph.D. thesis within the project Remote Inspection of Wooden Utility Poles (RIWUP). In a lab experiment, Petri-dishes with Scots pine sapwood samples on malt agar medium were infected with two types of decay fungi, a brown rot and a white rot. The wood samples were scanned with a HySpe...
A Jochemsen, G Alfredsen, I Burud


Studying amount, location and state of water in modified wood at moisture levels relevant for fungal degradation
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40889
Water is an essential parameter for fungal degradation of wood, but degradation primarily occurs at high moisture levels at water potential in the range of -4 to -0.1 MPa, which corresponds to 97-99.9% relative humidity. At these moisture levels, water is present in the wood structure both in and outside of cell walls. The majority of previous studies on the interaction between wood and water for ...
M Fredriksson, E Engelund Thybring, Ramunas Digaitis


Macro biological degradation of wood treated with sorbitol and citric acid – first results from marine environment and termite exposure
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40901
Most European wood species are rapidly and severely degraded in termite-infested areas and the marine environment. There is a need for new solutions, especially in the marine environment, since we lack wood preservatives approved for marine applications in Europe. Several wood modification systems show high resistance against both marine borers and subterranean termites. However, the existing comm...
A Treu, L Nunes, E Larnøy


The iron reduction by chemical components of wood blocks decayed by wood rotting fungi
2021 - IRG/WP 21-10979
Brown-rot fungi, a group of wood rotting fungi, is well known to be one of major microorganisms that cause the deterioration of wooden buildings in Japan and have been considered to use chelator-mediated Fenton (CMF) reaction in concert with hydrolytic and redox enzymes for degradation of wood cell wall. CMF can be described as a non-enzymatic degradation system that utilizes hydroxyl radicals pro...
R R Kondo, Y Horikawa, K Ando, B Goodell, M Yoshida


Decay capacity and degradation patterns of Xylaria hypoxylon on different wood species
2022 - IRG/WP 22-10985
A host of physical and environmental factors may influence fungal decay including the wood substrate, temperature, moisture, oxygen, light, pH, and nitrogen. Understanding the effects of these factors on fungal decay is important for the effective utilization of wood decay fungi in biotechnological processes and for understanding the role of these organisms in global carbon cycling. The ascomycete...
E Bari, G Daniel, A Singh, J J Morrell


Performance of wood exterior structures above ground in Spain. Performance and durability of a shelter of spruce in a shopping centre after 20 years
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20680
Across Europe is very common to find wood exterior structures mainly build in sawn and glue-laminated wood. Most of these exterior wood structures use softwood wood species such as: fir, spruce, pine or douglas. In Spain exterior wood structures, became more and more popular since nineties, when sawn and glue-laminated wood were utilized for building exterior wood structures in overall Spain. In m...
D Lorenzo, A Lozano, M Alonso, J Fernández-Golfín, M Touza, J Benito


Combining MRI and X-ray CT to monitor fungal decay of plywood and OSB in a lab test
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20683
Bio-based building materials, such as wood and wood-engineered products, are susceptible to degradation by decay fungi. In-depth knowledge on the intricate material-fungus relationship as well as performance data for many bio-based building materials are still lacking, and especially knowledge on how a material’s structure and moisture properties affect the degradation process is missing. Althou...
L De Ligne, T Núñez Guitar, C Vanhove, J Van Acker, J Van den Bulcke


Role of microbiota in wood degradation by Reticulitermes grassei and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20684
Xylophagous organisms can cause damage both in forests and in felled wood. Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, which causes "Sudden Pine Wilting" in coniferous forest masses, and is currently considered a quarantine organism in the European Union. On the other hand, structural and carpentry wood is affected by subterranean termites (Reticulitermes spp.), that cause serious damage, both in buildings and fu...
L Robertson, S Rames, M Uriel, J M González, F Llinares, S M Santos, M T Troya


Wood Protection Using Nano Metal Oxides in Propylene Glycol
2022 - IRG/WP 22-30760
Metals and metal oxides are known to have properties that can protect wood from degradation. Nanoparticles, due to its unique physical and chemical properties can enhance the protection to a much greater extent. Major constraints in dealing with nanoparticle dispersion can only be resolved by identifying a proper dispersive medium. Studies were carried out by preparing nanodispersion of four metal...
S Nair, G B Nagarajappa, K K Pandey


Metabolite analysis of fungal COS degradation and phylogenetic investigation of COSase genes
2023 - IRG/WP 23-11018
Fungi are the major species causing microbial deterioration that reduces the commercial value of wood, such as wood decay and surface contamination, so it is important to accumulate knowledge on the physiology of fungi in order to develop countermeasures against these problems. Most physiological studies of fungi that have been reported have concerned the metabolism of carbohydrates as a source of...
R Iizuka, S Hattori, I Ohtsu, D Hibbett, Y Katayama, M Yoshida


Mini-stakes – an alternative test method for EN 252?
2023 - IRG/WP 23-20691
Market approval of wood treatment products requires knowledge and prove of long-term durability. Efficiency of wood treatment with a specific product is evaluated based on variety of tests, including penetration evaluation, leaching studies as well as decay tests. EN 252 standard test is a core method for wood durability evaluation in a ground contact, both for commercial product approval and scie...
R Digaitis, P Larsson Brelid, N Terziev, M Klamer, A W Christof, J Stenaek, N Morsing


UV protection and dimensional stability of lignin-based wood treatments
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40979
New developments in the field of wood modification aim to enhance the intrinsic properties of natural timber. The limitation of wood should be preferably achieved with biobased ingredients and efficient, eco-friendly treatments possessing low environmental impact. Consequently, new solutions assuring expected properties and functionality over elongated service life and reducing the risk of product...
R Herrera,O Gordobil, F Poohphajai, A Sandak


Research on gaseous COS degradation by brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11033
Physiological studies of wood rotting fungi have mostly focused on the metabolism of carbon and nitrogen sources, which constitute the dominants components of wood. On the other hand, despite the physiological importance of trace elements such as sulfur, studies on their acquisition sources and metabolic pathways are limited. Until now, wood rotting fungi have been thought to utilize slight amount...
R Iizuka, R Tsukida, Y Katayama, M Yoshida


Fungal degradation of oak timber bridges
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11058
Wood is increasingly recognised as an eco-friendly building material, but its organic nature makes it vulnerable to degradation, especially in outdoor applications exposed to moisture. This study investigates wood-decaying fungi affecting oak timber bridges in Hanover, Germany. The study aimed to identify the fungal species using culture-independent methods and to examine the impact of poorly exec...
L Schrader, J Trautner, C Brischke


Revealing the degradation process of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) by different decay fungi
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11060
Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is the main bamboo species for engineering; however, it is highly susceptible to various fungi during use. In this study, four prevalent decay fungi, including two brown rot fungi and two white-rot fungi, were used as the test fungi to investigate the changes in structure and chemical composition of Moso bamboo samples at different incubation times in order to be...
J Xue, D Cui, M Zhou, J Cao


Interaction between AA9 lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase and PQQ-dependent pyranose dehydrogenase in cellulose degradation
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11075
Wood-decaying fungi degrade cellulose, the primary polysaccharide in wood, as a nutrient source by utilising various hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes. Among these, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO9) has gained attention as a key enzyme that enhances the degradation efficiency of other cellulases. The activity of LPMO9 requires both electrons and hydrogen peroxide. It has been reported that...
H Murai, Y Kojima, E G Kommedal, V G H Eijsink, M Yoshida


Exploration of flavoenzymes from the wood rotting basidiomycete Armillaria cepistipes using protein structure prediction
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11077
Wood rotting basidiomycete is one of the major organisms that cause wood deterioration. Oxidoreductases secreted by those fungi are known to play key roles in the mechanism of wood cell wall degradation. As certain extracellular oxidoreductases including lignolytic peroxidases and lytic-polysaccharide monooxygenases from wood rotting fungi utilise hydrogen peroxide as a substrate in their catalyti...
Y Tamaru


Effect of the Cellulose-Binding Domain Associated with Xylanase on the Degradation of Softwood and Hardwood Xylan
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11078
Brown rot fungi rapidly degrade hemicellulose, which is recognized as a key decomposition process during the early stages of wood decay. Brown rot fungi possess multiple genes encoding hemicellulose-degrading enzymes, suggesting that enzymatic hydrolysis plays an important role in this process. Hemicellulases produced by these fungi often contain an additional domain classified as carbohydrate-bin...
R Tsukida, Y Kojima, S Kaneko, M Yoshida


Screening of fungi capable of degradation of β-aryl ether bond from lignin model compounds by using highly fluorescent-emitting detection
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11081
Lignin is an aromatic polymer and composed of phenylpropane units polymerized by dehydrogenases in cell walls. Lignin has a complex chemical structure with C-C and C-O-C bonds, and it is difficult to decompose lignin structure by microorganisms in natural conditions. For the microbial degradation of lignin structure, wood decay fungi can non-specifically degrade the lignin polymeric structure by o...
A Ishikawa, Y Mori, Y Ota, M Kiguchi


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