6 Wood Discoloration

220 8 Habitat of Wood Fungi
1985). In the laboratory, over 11 years were survived by “dryness resistance”
(Theden 1972), so that fungi may come to life again. There is also resistance to
high temperature: Antrodia vaillantii, A. sinuosa and O. placenta survived on
agar 3 h at 65 ◦ C. Antrodia vaillantii and O. placenta withstood heat of 80 ◦ C for
4 h in slowly dried wood samples (Huckfeldt 2003), which has to be considered
in view of a possible treatment of infected homes with hot air.
Some species destroy timber in soil contact, like poles and palisades, even
if it is properly impregnated with chrome-copper salts (Stephan et al. 1996).
Especially A. vaillantii but also A. xantha and O. placenta are known for
copper tolerance (Da Costa and Kerruish 1964) due to the production of oxalic
acid (Rabanus 1939; Da Costa 1959; Sutter et al. 1983, 1984; Jordan et al.
1996). Strain variation occurred (Da Costa and Kerruish 1964; Collett 1992a,
1992b), and monokaryons were more tolerant than their parental strains (Da
Costa and Kerruish 1965). In vitro, A. vaillantii was the most copper-tolerant
fungus among the five species (Table 3.10) and produced most oxalic acid
(Table 3.9; Schmidt and Moreth 2003). Antrodia vaillantii is also tolerant to
arsenic (Göttsche and Borck 1990; Stephan and Peek 1992).
8.5.3.3
Cellar fungi: Coniophora species
Occurrence: The genus Coniophora comprises about 20 species occurring
worldwide with a broad host range primarily on conifers (Ginns 1982). Seven
species occur in Europe (Jülich 1984) and five in Western Germany (Krieglsteiner
1991). Coniophora puteana is frequently associated with brown-rot
decay in European buildings. The fungus was estimated to be twice as common
as the Dry rot fungus in the UK (Eaton and Hale 1993). It comprised over
50% of the inquiries at the Danish Technological Institute (Koch 1985), 16.3%
in Norway (Alfredsen et al. 2005), and 13% at the Finnish Forest Products
Laboratory (Viitanen and Ritschkoff 1991a). The fungus has been used for
nearly 70 years as a test fungus for wood preservatives in Europe. It also occurs
in the USA, Canada, South America, Africa, India, Japan, Australia, and New
Zealand. Further “cellar fungi” that attack indoor timber in Europe are especially
C. marmorata,andalsoC. arida and Colivacea(Fig. 8.20). In Europe, the
cellar fungi cause with about 10% frequency the two to third most common
fungal indoor wood decay after S. lacrymans. In Australia and New Zealand, C.
arida and C. olivacea are common. Some further Coniophora species also occur
in buildings, mines and glass houses, but predominantly in warm climatic
zones (Ginns 1982). The species can be differentiated by their fruit bodies
(Jülich and Stalpers 1980; Breitenbach and Kränzlin 1986; Krieglsteiner 2000).
However, the species concept within Coniophora is difficult because there are
only a few, and unstable characteristics, which complicates species identification
in infected buildings. With regard to isolates in culture, Coniophora cannot
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