Physiology of Wood-rotting Basidiomycetes

Physiology of Wood-rotting Basidiomycetes

“…The wood-rot fungi have one fermentative advantage not shared by most other microbes: their unique ability to split the cellulose-lignin complex of wood. The cellulolytic activity of these organisms (for example, Campbell, 1952;Siu and Reese, 1953;Kunz et al, 1954), and ability to utilize a variety of carbon compounds (Neewcomb and and different forms of nitrogen (Jennison et al, 1955), attest to their adaptability to a diversity of substrates. The wood-rot fungi produce good growth in many cheap substrates and plant wastes, such as potato, bran and corn steep liquor (Jenniison, 1948), molasses fermentation residues and spent brewers' grains (Fagan and Jennison, 1955), corn cobs, wood wastes, coffee grounds, cannery wastes, and spent sulfite liquor (unpublished observations).…”

“…Most of the 17 organisms used (see table 1) were those for which we had previously reported detailed growth data (Jennison et al, 1955). Stock cultures were maintained on potato glucose agar (Difco, dehydrated).…”

“…The wood-rotting Basidiomycetes, as well as certain related forms (mushrooms), may be propagated readily in submerged culture, forming pellets of mycelium (Humfeld, 1948;Jennison, 1948;Humfeld and Sugihara, 1952;Sugihara and Humfeld, 1954;Jennison et al, 1955). Although the two types of wood-rot fungibrowi-n rots and white rots are unlike in their action on the constituents of wood (Campbell, 1952), and may be differentiated by their reactions on special culture media (Davidson et al, 1938;Preston and McLennan, 1948), there appear to be no significant differences in nutritional requirements in synthetic media between the two groups (Jennison et al, 1955). Apparently there are no reports in the literature, other than three preliminary papers from this laboratory (Jennison et al, 1953;Fagan and Jennison, 1955;Richberg and Jennison, 1956), on the nutritive value of the mycelium of the wood-rotting fungi.…”