Diversity and decay ability of basidiomycetes isolated from lodgepole pines killed by the mountain pine beetle

E. Son, J. J. Kim, Y. W. Lim, T. T. Au-Yeung, C. Y.H. Yang, C. Breuil

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

When lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Louden var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson) that are killed by the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and its fungal associates are not harvested, fungal decay can affect wood and fibre properties. Ophiostomatoids stain sapwood but do not affect the structural properties of wood. In contrast, white or brown decay basidiomycetes degrade wood. We isolated both staining and decay fungi from 300 lodgepole pine trees killed by mountain pine beetle at green, red, and grey stages at 10 sites across British Columbia. We retained 224 basidiomycete isolates that we classified into 34 species using morphological and physiological characteristics and rDNA large subunit sequences. The number of basidiomycete species varied from 4 to 14 species per site. We assessed the ability of these fungi to degrade both pine sapwood and heartwood using the soil jar decay test. The highest wood mass losses for both sapwood and heartwood were measured for the brown rot species Fomitopsis pinicola and the white rot Metulodontia and Ganoderma species. The sap rot species Trichaptum abietinum was more damaging for sapwood than for heartwood. A number of species caused more than 50% wood mass losses after 12 weeks at room temperature, suggesting that beetle-killed trees can rapidly lose market value due to degradation of wood structural components.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-41
Number of pages9
JournalCanadian Journal of Microbiology
Volume57
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011 Jan

Keywords

  • Basidiomycete
  • Brown rot
  • Decay test
  • Fungal diversity
  • Lodgepole pine
  • Mass losses
  • Mountain pine beetle
  • White rot

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

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