Four isolates of Chlorociboria aeruginascens were tested for possible stimulatory effects when grown on malt agar media containing wood additives. The addition of any of the four types of test wood (Acer saccharum, Populus tremuloides, spalted P. tremuloides, and Ailanthus altissima), stimulated colony growth and xylindein production in C. aeruginascens. Addition of any amount of wood produced more growth than no wood additions, while ground wood produced more growth than chopped wood. Of the wood types tested, A. saccharum wood stimulated all four isolates, while spalted Populus tremuloides stimulated three of the four isolates. High glucose and sucrose amounts may be partially responsible for the greater stimulatory affect of some woods over others. The development of this simple and reliable method for growth and pigment stimulation of C. aeruginascens in laboratory conditions will allow for further development of this fungus for decorative and commercial use.

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This research investigated the use of red pigment producing fungi in controlled inoculation into woody substrates for decorative applications. Two Fusarium species isolated from red-stained wood and two strains of Arthrographis cuboidea capable of producing red stain in culture were inoculated onto sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.), incubated for 6–14 weeks, and evaluated for their ability to produce a high-saturation, penetrating stain. Both Fusarium species failed to produce significant pigmentation either externally or internally. Both strains of A. cuboidea produced high amounts of surface and penetrating red stain within a moderate incubation period (over 80% of the wood samples stained by 10 weeks of incubation) but were capable of doing so only under sterile or semisterile conditions. Production of red stain did not differ between A. cuboidea isolates except at 6 and 8 weeks where isolate ELS-1 had significantly higher internal red stain. It was also found that an increase in incubation time for A. cuboidea past 8 weeks led to increasing amounts of blue pigment on external wood surfaces. The findings indicate that A. cuboidea is suitable for production of red pigmentation on decorative wood applications only if utilized under sterile or semisterile conditions and incubation is halted before blue pigment begins to form.

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American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is an abundant, underutilized tree in certain areas of North America, and methods to increase its market value are of considerable interest. This research utilized pigment-producing fungi to induce color in American beech to potentially establish its use as a decorative wood. Wood samples were inoculated with Trametes versicolor, Xylaria polymorpha, Inonotus hispidus, and Arthrographis cuboidea to induce fungal pigmentation. Black pigmentation (T. versicolor, X. polymorpha, I. hispidus) was sporadic, occurred primarily on the surfaces of the heartwood, but not internally. Pink pigmentation (A. cuboidea) occurred throughout all of the tested beech samples, but was difficult to see in the heartwood due to the darker color of the wood. To increase the visibility of the pink stain, beech blocks were pretreated with T. versicolor for 4 weeks before being inoculated with A. cuboidea. This method significantly increased the saturation of the pink stain on both beech heartwood and sapwood, creating coloration similar to that found on sugar maple. This value-adding process should be particularly effective for small-scale wood pigmentation, and should help establish a market for this currently underutilized wood species.

Inonotus hispidus, Scytalidium ganodermophthorum and two strains of Scytalidium lignicola were tested for their ability to produce yellow extracellular pigment on media plates, sterile wood blocks and non-sterile logs to determine their suitability for use as spalting fungi. All three fungi produced a penetrating yellow pigment in the non-sterile logs after 12 weeks of incubation; however, results from the sterile block tests indicated that the incubation time necessary for I. hispidus to produce sufficient yellow pigment may be as low as 4 weeks of incubation. An incubation period of 4 weeks is the shortest recorded for controlled spalting and will allow for the currently utilised production time for yellow spalted wood of 12 weeks to be substantially decreased using an isolate of I. hispidus as the inoculum.

Eight fungal species known to produce wood pigmentation were tested for reaction to various moisture contents in two hardwood species. Fungal pigmentation by Trametes versicolor and Xylaria polymorpha was stimulated at low water concentrations in both Acer saccharum (sugar maple) and Fagus grandifolia (American beech), while Inonotus hispidus and Polyporus squamosus were stimulated above 22-28% and 34-38% moisture content in beech and in sugar maple respectively. Fomes fomentarius and Polyporus brumalis produced maximum pigmentation in beech at 26 - 41% and in sugar maple at 59 - 96% moisture content. The pink staining Scytalidium cuboideum pigmented both wood species at above 35% moisture content. This research indicates that controlling the moisture content values of wood substrates can stimulate the intensity of pigmentation of specific fungi when spalting wood for decorative and commercial purpose.