ABSTRACT
The higher fungi are the primary utilizers of complex sources of carbon in the terrestrial environment. The white-rot fungi, in particular, are known to decompose lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Several researchers have suggested that ligninolytic fungi might be used in pulping operations. This chapter focuses on screening white-rot fungi for their ability to decompose lignin in wood. The isolates collected in New York and the tropics are random collections of white-rot fungi, usually isolated from sporocarps found on white-rotted wood. White-rot fungi with weakly positive and negative oxidase reactions exhibited a full range of decay rates and lignin specificites. Although some tropical white-rot fungi grow more rapidly at 35 than at 30°C most grow better at the lower temperature. The specificity of decay caused by an organism appears to increase to a maximum value between 20 and 40% weight loss and then decline.
