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Yoon Soo Kim, Seung Gon Wi, Kwang Ho Lee, Adya P. Singh

Cytochemical Localization of Hydrogen Peroxide Production during Wood Decay by Brown-Rot Fungi Tyromyces palustris and Coniophora puteana

It is not definitively known whether or not the production of extracellular hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a universal characteristic of brown-rot fungi. Cytochemical localization of H₂O₂ was tested in two brown-rot fungi, Tyromyces palustris and Coniophora puteana, by staining with cerium chloride. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the deposition of cerium perhydroxide within the fungal hyphae as well as wood cell walls affected by brown-rot fungi. TEM work indicated that extracellular H₂O₂ was present in brown-rot fungi and that H₂O₂ from brown-rot fungi diffused into the wood cell walls in the early stages of decay. The present work strongly suggests that H₂O₂ plays an important role in the early degradation of cellulose by brown-rot fungi. The usefulness of this technique for localizing H₂O₂ at high resolution with minimal nonspecific deposition is also discussed.

Holzforschung, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0018-3830
Volume: 56, 02/2002
Pages: 7 - 12

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