• Mycobiology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.47-50
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• 2000

The capability of higher ascomyceteous fungi to cause typical soft-rot decay for wood under laboratory conditions is reviewed and discussed. Fungi tested were extremely active in the decomposition of timbers. Scanning electron micrographs illustrated typical soft-rot decay pattern of higher wood decay ascomycetes, with the exception of H. trugodes that caused white-rot decay. Most of the fungi tested could be grouped as soft-rot fungi that showed typical soft-rot type II. Hypha confined primarily to the resin canals in softwoods or vessel elements in hardwoods and spread tracheid to tracheid via pits of cell wall to cell wall with mechanical force.

• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 2016

The wood decay fungi are a diverse taxonomic group that plays a pivotal role in forest carbon cycling. Wood decay fungi use various enzymatic pathways to digest dead or living wood in order to obtain carbon and other nutrients and these enzymatic systems have been exploited for both industrial and medical applications. Over 600 wood decay fungi species have been described in Korea; however, the recent application of molecular markers has dramatically altered the taxonomy of many of these wood decay fungi at both the genus and species levels. By combining molecular methods, specifically sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region, with traditional morphological characters, this study identified five new species records for Korea in five genera: Aurantiporus, Favolus, Neofavolus, Loweomyces, and Hymenochaetopsis. Three of these genera (Aurantiporus, Favolus, and Loweomyces) were previously unknown in Korea. The relatively simple morphology of the wood decay fungi often leads to ambiguous taxonomic assignment. Therefore, molecular markers are a necessary component of any taxonomic or evolutionary study of wood decay fungi. Our study highlights the need for a more robust and multifaceted approach in investigating new wood decay fungi in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.602-615
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• 2021

Red jabon wood is a potential fast-growing species for veneer, furniture, and many other wood products, but its durability is very low. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of castor bean oil and heating on boron leaching, dimensional stability, and resistance to decay fungi in treated jabon wood. Red jabon wood was preserved with boron solutions containing 5% boron (boric acid, borax, or borax-boric acid). Following that, castor bean oil impregnation and heating were used as posttreatments. Furthermore, all the wood samples were tested in terms of leaching, dimensional stability, and resistance against Schizophyllum commune and Fomitopsis palustris fungi. This study discovered that boron compounds, castor bean oil, and heating treatments influenced the leaching, dimensional stability, and resistance of red jabon wood to decay fungi. The double impregnation of boric acid or borax and castor bean oil, followed by heating at 160℃, significantly reduced water absorption and leaching while increasing the dimensional stability and resistance of red jabon wood against the two tested decay fungi.

• Mycobiology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.205-209
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• 2007

Ergosterol involves in fungal cell growth as a major component in fungal cell membranes. It can be an indicator that shows the fungal activity, and its content depends on the fungal strains, culture, growth conditions and so on. In this study, fungal activities and growth patterns of three white-rot fungi strains isolated in Korea were evaluated by determination of ergosterol contents during the incubation. Wood decay test and chemical analyses of wood were also performed to verify the relationship between fungal activity and wood degrading capacity of white-rot fungi for 60 days. In the results of experiments, it is considered that the test strains selectively degrade large amount of lignin in wood at the early stage of decay. Especially, Phanerochaete chrysosporium showed the best capability on selective degradation of lignin among the test fungi. It is suggested that the determination of ergosterol content in the fungal culture during the incubation is the simple and effective screening method of white-rot fungi for the application to biopulping of wood.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.240-247
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• 2018

Though several wood decay fungi have been reported in the world-wide, only about 600 wood decay fungi have been reported in Korea to date. Thus, the objective of this study was to secure resources for the wood decay fungi in Korea. We investigated wood decay fungi in Yeoninsan Provincial Park, Korea, and the collected specimens were identified based on ITS sequence analysis. Two species were unrecorded species in Korea: Postia hirsuta (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) and Hyphodontia reticulata (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota). Another species was previously reported without detailed description: Ceriporia alachuana (Polyporales, Basidiomycota). Here, we provided additional detailed microscopic features and phylogenetic analysis of these species.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.880-889
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• 2016

To evaluate the resistance of wood to decay caused by fungi, sapwood and heartwood of red pine (Pinus densiflora) and sapwood and heartwood of larch (Larix kaempferi) were conducted. Wood samples were immersed for 96 h in pyroligneous liquor. Then, the brown-rot fungus, Fomitopsis palustris, was used to examine the decay resistance of red pine and larch. Weight and density of wood from the all conditions increased after immersion treatment. Weight loss after decay resistance test was also dropped with a immersion treatment. The lowest weight loss indicated at immersion-treated heartwood of larch. Immersion treatment using pyroligneous liquor effectively increased the resistance of wood to decay caused by fungi.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.126-135
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• 2018

Wood decay fungi were collected in 47 different locations in eight provinces of South Korea from 2011 to 2013. One thousand and five hundreds three fruiting bodies of wood-decay fungi were collected, identified, and classified into 2 phyla, 7 classes, 19 orders, 56 families, 159 genera and 365 species. The most dominant genus and species found were Trametes and T. versicolor. The highest species diversity was found in broad-leaved forest (273 species), and was also found at elevations of 500-1,000 m (227 species). A total of 333 species were collected from broad-leaved trees, 87 species from coniferous trees, and 55 species were collected from both forest types. Gymnopilus liquiritiae was the most dominant species in coniferous trees, while T. versicolor, which was mostly collected from tree trunks below 500 m in elevation, was dominant in broad-leaved trees. Results from the quantitative cluster analysis of wood decay fungi showed that the highest species diversity index was 1.80 in the mixed forests, while the highest similarity among forest types was shown between the broad-leaved and mixed forests.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2017

This study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of heat-treated wood using the catalyst to decay caused by fungi for sapwood and heartwood of two tree species, Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) and Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi), respectively. Wood samples were immersed for 10 min in sulfuric acid (7.5%) and then heat-treated at $130^{\circ}C$ for 90 min. Fomitopsis palustris, a brown-rot fungus, was used to examine the decay resistance of Korean red pine and Japanese larch wood. Weight and density of wood from the all conditions increased after heat treatment using the catalyst. Weight loss after decay resistance test was also dropped with a heat treatment. The lowest weight loss indicated at heat-treated heartwood of Japanese larch. Heat treatment using the catalyst effectively increased the resistance of wood to decay caused by fungi.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.234-253
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• 2021

The Quercus mongolica has a high utilization value in industrial economic sector. The species is distributed throughout Korea, however, the damage caused by deterioration such as discoloration and decay is severe. For this reason, the deterioration of Q. mongolica is an obstacle to its use as wood, but research on deterioration factors is insufficient. In this study, we focused on fungi as a factor influencing the deterioration of Q. mongolica, and isolated and identified the fungi from the deteriorated Q. mongolica. In additions, in order to confirm whether the identified fungi actually affects wood deterioration, enzyme activities of the identified fungi were evaluated and related mass loss of wood treated with the fungi was measured by wood decay test. As a result of sequencing analysis using the ITS region of the genomic DNA of the fungi isolated from Q. mongolica, Mucor circinelloides, Cunninghamella elegans, and Umbelopsis isabellina 3 species belonging to Mucoromycota phylum, and Ophiostoma piceae and Aureobasidium melanogenum 2 species belonging to Ascomycota phylum were identified. These five fungi had enzyme (i.e. cellulase, laccase) activities related to wood decay and reduced the mass of heartwood and sapwood of Q. mongolica in practice. In particular, O. piceae and A. melanogenum, which have both cellulase and laccase activities, showed 6.9% and 1.5% mass loss, respectively. These results indicated that five fungi identified in this study influence the deterioration of Q. mongolica and are wood decaying fungi for Q. mongolica potentially.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.462-469
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• 2000

Sixty-one strains representing the main genera of wood-decaying xylariaceous fungi (mainly in Daldinia, Hypoxylon, Kretzschmaria, Rosellinia, Penzigia, and Xylaria) were tested for their ability to produce ligninolytic enzymes. The phenol oxidase activity and fungal growth of the xylariaceous fungi on gallic aicid and tannic acid media showed a variation in their ability to degrade lignocellulose. A number of species showed equal 개 betterligninolytic enzyme activities than Coriolus versicolor, a known basidiomycete wood-degrader. A large variation of the enzyme activity was observed by individual strains as well as a substantial variation between the isolates of the same species. The most frequent ligninolytic enzymes were peroxidase and general oxidase. With 19% of the strains tested, peroxidase showed the strongest ligninolytic enzyme activity, while tyrosinase activity was detected only in 7% of the strains. All strains of Kretzschmaria and Rosellinia tested was positive for laccase. Xylariaceous fungi were able to degrade the macromolecule, lignin, using each specific ligninolytic enzyme in the specfic lignin degradation pathway.