Frequency of Blue Staining Fungi isolated from Pine Trees of Experimental Forests in Kangwon National University and Its Resistance to Fungicide, Woodguard

This study was performed to investigate the frequency of blue staining fungal species collected from pine trees, Experimental Forests of Kangwon National University in Korea based on their morphological characteristics. In addition the tolerance to fungicide, Woodguard, was assessed to get basic knowledges for preventing blue stain of wood. Totally Leptographium-type fungi were dominated by 79.3% among Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with scolityd bark beetles in pine trees. Leptographium-type Ds-isolates which have unusual morphology were collected as frequency of 17.0%. The most distinct differeneces of these Ds-isolates from L. procerum were the presence of roughened hyphae and flask-shaped conidiophores that have never been mentioned formerly for L. procerum, but since these Ds-isolates formed black concentric rings being a property of L. procerum, the Df-isolates were characterized as Leptographium-type fungi, which are the most common species with the highest frequency by 33.2% in this particular area. According to our experimental results, Leptographium-type Ds- and Df-isolates were very resistant to fungicide, Woodguard, therefore it was suggested that a new method for wood protection from the blue staining fungi should be developed. Exact identification of blue staining isolates collected from pine trees is keep going.