This project concerns the mechanisms involved in the interactions between xylem heartwood and brown rot fungi. Nowadays, where human impact on the environment is constantly increasing, it is necessary to adapt more environmentally friendly ways of living, among others sustainable housing. Wood is an important raw material in construction work, and therefore, the development of environmentally safe wood protection systems is necessary, as old-fashioned, efficient, but toxic and environmentally unacceptable wood protection systems are no longer an option. Because the risk of degradation is already an issue for the heartwood in living trees, most tree species have developed defence mechanisms against fungi in the form of deposited chemical compounds (extractives). Some extractives are toxic biocides and therefore not relevant when looking for inspiration for environmentally benign wood protection systems. Others are not toxic but interfere with fungal attack mechanisms to prevent or delay decay, and should thus be the target of the study. Furthermore, it has been suggested, that the distribution of extractives plays a crucial role in their efficiency. In the present project, the intricate mechanisms of this ‘battle’ between wood defences and fungal attack are studied in detail for different European tree species with different levels of natural resistance to decay. The primary tool used for this is Confocal Raman Microspectroscopy, which enables the spatial mapping of chemical information with very high resolution (~ 300 nm). This allows the study of the wood cell wall in the presence or absence of extractives, before and after infection with selected brown rot fungi. The aim is to understand better where and in what amounts different functionalities are present in the wood microstructure and how this relates to decay resistance.
Keywords: Raman microspectroscopy, wood-fungi interaction mechanisms during degradation, brown rot
Authors
Sophie Füchtner
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Lisbeth G. Thygesen
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
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