ABSTRACT
The use of molecular methods for organism and/or metabolite detection is a fundamental feature of many aspects of applied biology and biotechnology most notably in medicine but increasingly in other fields such as plant pathology and forensic science. Molecular tools have only recently been considered for the analysis of organisms which cause biodeterioration of wood. Reasons for this include the difficulty, until recently, of producing molecular probes to the main organisms involved, i.e. fungi; the relatively low value of primary timber products; and the lack of a perceived need to identify decay organisms as treatment systems were not organism specific. The drive to understand the decay process more fully and develop wood preservatives with less general toxicity and greater organism specificity, coupled with an increased understanding of the ecology of wood decay fungi led to the initiation of molecular studies of wood decay fungi and, more recently, to the reporting of many simple and sensitive test systems for these organisms. Currently the use of such systems is generally limited to the realms of research scientists though it seems certain that more commercial applications will develop in the next few years.
