Variation in oxalate and oxalate decarboxylase production by six species of brown and white rot fungi

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterResearch

  • Anne Christine Steenkjær Hastrup
  • Jason Oliver
  • Caitlin Howell
  • Jody Jellison
  Oxalic acid (C2O4H2), the strongest of the organic acids is produced by both brown and white rot decay fungi and has been connected to various aspects of brown- and white rot decay including the Fenton reaction (Green and Highley, 1997; Munir et al.,2001). Oxalic acid is secreted into the wood cell lumen where it quickly dissociates into hydrogen ions and oxalate, resulting in a pH decrease of the environment, and oxalate-cation complexes. Generally, brown rot fungi accumulate larger quantities of oxalic acid in the wood than white rot fungi. The amount of oxalic acid has been shown to vary significantly among strains of brown rot fungi and within strains in response to differing environmental conditions (Green and Clausen; Hastrup et al., 2006).  This variation is in part believed to be due to the level of oxalate decarboxylase (ODC). The enzyme breaks down oxalate into stoichiometric quantities of formic acid and CO2 (Makela et al., 2002). So far only a few species of brown rot fungi have been shown to accumulate this enzyme (Micales, 1995, Howell and Jellison, 2006).   The purpose of this study was to investigate the variation in the levels of soluble oxalate and total oxalate, in correlation with the presence ODC and the degree of degradation in various brown- and white rot fungi in order to achieve a better understanding of the decay process.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2008
Number of pages1
Publication statusPublished - 2008
EventBiodeterioration of Wood and Wood Products, BWWP 2007 - LS Institute of Wood Chemistry and FEMS, Latvia
Duration: 26 Aug 200729 Aug 2007

Conference

ConferenceBiodeterioration of Wood and Wood Products, BWWP 2007
CountryLatvia
CityLS Institute of Wood Chemistry and FEMS
Period26/08/200729/08/2007

ID: 2492231