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Respiration methods used to follow the decay of wood and the toximetric evaluation of wood preservatives
1975 - IRG/WP 249
When wood is attacked and decayed by fungi, wood substance and oxygen (02) are consumed, while carbon dioxide (CO2), water and heat are liberated. Early in the 1960's workers from England, Canada and Sweden began studying CO2 evolution, with respect to decay and its control using chemical preservatives, while in Germany and the USA O2 utilization was being similarly examined. Oxygen consu...
R S Smith


Rates of emission from CCA-treated wood in the marine environment: measurement, modelling and requirements for further research
2001 - IRG/WP 01-50166-12
Accurate estimates of rates of emission of leachate from preservative treated wood are crucial for realistic predictions of the environmental impact of its use in maritime construction. Estimates are available for some commonly used preservatives, but these vary widely. Though variable, these measurements suggest that emission generally decreases exponentially with time. Part of the variation is d...
S M Cragg, C J Brown, R A Albuquerque, R A Eaton


Oxygen index levels and thermal analysis of wood treated with melamine-formaldehyde-boron combinations
1997 - IRG/WP 97-30135
Melamine formaldehyde (MF) resin was impregnated into scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) specimens with aqueous solutions of 5, 10 and 20% concs. Boric acid (BA) and borax (BX) was added to MF resin at the concentration levels of 0.25, 1.00 and 4.70% to each level of resin concs. BA and BX mixture was prepared at the 5:1 (w/w) ratio considering resultant pH of solutions and better fire resistance. U...
M K Yalinkilic, W-Y Su, Z Demirci, E Baysal, M Takahashi, S Ishihara


Non-enzymatic Gloeophyllum trabeum decay mechanisms: Further study
2001 - IRG/WP 01-10395
Information will be presented on the mechanisms involved in, and potential application of, non-enzymatic wood decay by brown rot decay fungi. Specifically, the hypothesized role of low molecular weight phenolate derivatives will be discussed in relation to non-enzymatic degradation of wood. The mechanism of binding of iron by cellulose, and binding and reduction of iron by fungal derivatives and m...
B Goodell, J Jellison


Towards a colour assay of wood degradation
1982 - IRG/WP 2180
A colour assay for the enzyme catalase is described. Since the activity of this enzyme has previously been shown to be correlated with degree of wood degradation as determined by other methods, this assay may provide a rapid quantitative indicator of superficial and internal wood decay....
M A Line


Reticulitermes (Ins., Isopt.) in Central and Western Europe
1969 - IRG/WP I 5A
Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) has established itself in Hamburg and Hallein coming from the east of North America. In France, on the northern boundary of termit occurrence, Reticulitermes santonensis are distinguished from Reticulitermes lucifugus by special activity and resistance. According to comparative investigations with colonies of several Reticulitermes species of different origins rega...
G Becker


Reticulitermes (Ins., Isopt.) in Mittel- und West-Europa
1969 - IRG/WP I 4
In Hamburg und Hallein hat sich Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) aus dem Osten von Nordamerika eingebürgert. An der Nordgrenze des Termitenvorkommens im Westen Frankreichs zeichnet sich Reticulitermes santonensis Fetaud gegenüber Reticulitermes lucifugus durch besondere Aktivität und Widerstandsfähigkeit aus. Nach vergleichenden Untersuchungen an Kolonien verschiedener Reticulitermes-Arten meh...
G Becker


The effect of low molecular weight chelators on iron chelation and free radical generation as studied by ESR measurement
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10367
The focus of this work was to improve our current knowledge of the non-enzymatic mechanisms involved in brown-rot decay. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), also known as Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), is an attractive technique for the identification and study of chemical species containing unpaired electrons (such as radicals and certain transition metal species). ESR spin-trapping techniques...
Yuhui Qian, B Goodell


Wood degradation mechanisms by the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10229
A mechanism for the degradation of wood by the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum is outlined. The mechanism includes the function of redox-cycling, low molecular weight phenolic derivatives which sequester and reduce iron in acidic environments. The role of oxalate for the sequestration of iron (hydr)oxides and the pH dependent transfer of iron to the G. trabeum phenolic chelators, as well as ...
B Goodell, J Jellison


The volatilization of arsenic on burning copper-chrome-arsenic (CCA) treated wood
1978 - IRG/WP 3111
Small scale burning experiments are described involving copper-chrome-arsenic treated wood. Approximately 20 per cent of the arsenic was volatilised when the wood was burned in air but 60 per cent when burned in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere, this increase is attributed to an increase in combustion temperature. Although a small increase in arsenic evolution was found with an increased concentratio...
A-J Dobbs, C Grant


The influence of gaseous oxygen concentration on fungal growth rates, biomass production and wood decay
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10283
The effects of air and several levels of oxygen balanced with nitrogen (% oxygen (v/v) nitrogen to 100%) on growth rates, biomass production and wood decay were investigated. The best technique for measuring daily growth rates in anaerobic jars was found to be by using 40 mm petri dishes which were attached to the walls of the jars. At the end of the test period the same petri dishes were also use...
S M Kazemi, D J Dickinson, R J Murphy


Respiratory response of the wood boring teredinid, Lyrodus pedicellatus (Quatrefages) to copper stress
2004 - IRG/WP 04-10528
Wood boring teredinid molluscs engulf most of the wooden particles scrapped by them while actively boring into wood, obtaining nourishment for their metabolic activities. In order to protect the wooden structures from the biodeteriorating activity of such organisms, the wood is treated with different chemical formulations to prolong their service life. Copper chrome arsenic (CCA) is one such woo...
V Kuppusamy, M Balaji, M V Rao, K S Rao


Influence of CCA and TnBTO on wood decay, under different oxygen levels and various initial moisture content
2001 - IRG/WP 01-10415
Fagus sylvatica (beech) and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) were impregnated by TnBTO (tributyl-tin oxide) and CCA (chromated copper arsenate). In wood blocks two levels of moisture content (50% and 100% of saturation point) were used. Three levels of oxygen concentrations (10, 21, and 50%) were chosen. Treated and untreated wood were exposed to three fungi (C. versicolor a white rot, C. puteana, a ...
S M Kazemi, R J Murphy, D J Dickinson


Site characteristics impacting historic waterlogged wood: A review
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10344
Survival of waterlogged wood from hundreds and in rare cases millions of years presents scientists with a unique opportunity to examine wood specimens which, due to select properties of the wood itself and/or the depostional environment, have not been completely degraded. Although degradation patterns of various types of microbial wood decay have been studied in detail, the site parameters of the ...
B A Jordan, E L Schmidt


The effect of initial moisture content on wood decay at different levels of gaseous oxygen concentration
1999 - IRG/WP 99-10316
The influence of initial moisture content on wood decay at different levels of atmospheric oxygen concentration was studied. Three fungi, Coriolus versicolor a white rot, Coniophora puteana a brown rot, and Chaetomium globosum a soft rot, were chosen. The mycelia of the fungi were inoculated on mini blocks of Fagus sylvatica (beech) and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine). Incubations were under four le...
S M Kazemi, D J Dickinson, R J Murphy


The role of oxygen and oxygen radicals in one-electron oxidation reactions mediated by low-molecular weight chelators isolated from Gloeophyllum trabeum.markup
1994 - IRG/WP 94-10086
The KTBA assay for determination of one-electron oxidation activity was used to assay reactions of low-molecular weight chelators isolated from the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum. The assay, performed either under air or nitrogen showed that molecular oxygen was an important factor in chelator-mediated oxidation reactions. A reduction in oxidative activity was observed when superoxide dismu...
Jun Lu, B Goodell, Jiang Liu, A Enoki, J Jellison, H Tanaka, F Fekete


Effect of a biological treatment on below ground decay of Douglas-fir pole sections
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40433
The use of exogenous sugars to accelerate microbial growth and eventually limit available oxygen in soil surrounding wood in soil contact was investigated on untreated Douglas-fir poles exposed over a 3 year period in Western Oregon. Isolation frequencies differed markedly between treated and untreated poles and the treatment did appear to shift the frequency of some basidiomycetes. The treatment ...
C Freitag and J J Morrell


Degradation of wood veneers by Fenton’s reagents: effects of low molecular weight phenolic compounds on hydrogen peroxide decay and tensile strength loss
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20400
Pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneers strips were incubated in acetate buffer containing hydrogen peroxide and iron to mimic mechanisms of brown rot decay and assess the degradation of cellulose through analysis of the tensile properties of the decayed wood. The tensile properties of thin wood strips treated with Fenton system reagents or precursors were determined and correlated to weight loss as ...
Yanjun Xie, R Well, Zefang Xiao, B Goodell, J Jellison, H Militz, C Mai


Fungal Attack on Lignin and Cellulose: Elucidation of Brown- and White-Rot Mechanisms Comparing Biomimetic and In-Vivo Degradation Patterns
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10714
This paper examines research and hypotheses that have been developed over several years on wood degradation mechanisms. This information is combined with new data and analyses to explain why wood decay patterns caused by brown-rot fungi and specific types of white-rot fungi are different. New data, including work with both biomimetic studies on low molecular weight compounds, degradative enzymes, ...
V Arantes, B Goodell, A M F Milagres, Yuhui Qian, T Filley, J Jellison, S Kelley


Production of reactive oxygen species in the presence of oxidized iron and oxalate under conditions mimicking brown-rot fungal degradation of wood
2016 - IRG/WP 16-10861
The biochemical role of oxalate in the fungal solubilization of iron is well known, but additional information is needed on the role that oxalate plays in the brown-rot decay of lignocellulose. In this study iron sequestration from iron and iron oxide-hydroxides was assessed with regard to the function of a chelator-mediated Fenton (CMF) reaction and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)...
Yuan Zhu, Liangpeng Zhuang, B Goodell, Jinzhen Cao, J Mahaney