Abstract
To screen fungi which highly degrade conifer wood, 2304 samples were collected in coniferous forests. Isolate No.1099, Pleurotus ostreatus; isolate No.3197, a species of Trametes; and isolate No.3199, Pycnoporus coccineus were selected trough three kinds of screenings regarding color change of guaiacol, decolorization of coniferous Kraft pulp and lignin loss of Cryptomeria japonica wood powder based on degradability of lignin. On sterilized C.japonica wood power medium, mycelial growths of the three isolates were faster and weight losses of the isolates were greater than those of the control, Trametes versicolor. Under sterilized or unsterilized conditions, weight losses of wood power and wood chips of C.japonica and Chamaecyparis obtusa by the three isolates were in many cases greater than those of the control. In these experiments, addition of wheat bran accelerated mycelial growths and degradations. Under unsterilized conditions, the weight losses of C.japonica logs by the three isolates were greater than those by the control. From the above findings, the capability of screening the fungi which highly degrade conifer wood was clarified based on degradability of lignin.
