Leh Ringer

Permeability improvement of Norway spruce
wood with the white rot fungus

Physisporinus vitreus

Dissertation
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Doctoral Degree (Dr. rer. nat.)
of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Georg-August-University Gttingen

Submitted
by Christian Lehringer

Gttingen 2011
Internet-link to Dissertation:
http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl/?webdoc-2818

Referee 1: Prof. Dr. H. Militz
Referee 2: Dr. K. Richter
Referee 3. Prof. Dr. R. Wimmer Supervisors:
Referee 4.: PD Dr. G. Koch Prof. Dr. H. Militz
Referee 5.: Prof. Dr. U. Kes Dr. K. Richter
Referee 6.: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. F. Hapla Martin Arnold

Date of oral examination: 28. January 2011

LIFE IS ORGANIC

Acknowledgements i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Three years of intense work on one topic. Three years of interesting discoveries
and creativity. Three years of disappointing drawbacks and doubts. Three years
of learning and understanding. Three years of fun! And luckily, I was not alone
My three supervisors Prof. Dr. Holger Militz, Dr. Klaus Richter and Martin Arnold
helped me greatly finding my way through these three years. Therefore, I cor-
dially express my gratitude for their trust, support, encouragement, patience and
expertise.
Furthermore, I acknowledge Prof. Dr. F.W.M.R Schwarze and Dr. Mark Schubert
for the critical and informative discussions we had about the results of my re-
search.
The Empa Wood Lab in Dbendorf receives a big 'thanks' for the collegial, open-
minded and always helpful atmosphere. Special thanks go to Anja, Tina, Esther,
Markus, Dani, Michael and Walter for support in sample preparation, experiment
setup and measurements; to my PhD-colleagues Jessie, Thao, Chrigu, Robert,
Ahmad and Saeed for interesting and entertaining discussions not only during
the coffee breaks; and to Walter, Bruno and Sam who were my constant fellows
at Tuesday's running appointment.
Within the Empa/Eawag facilities, I particularly thank Stephanie, Maura and
Wiebke from the library for patient and helpful support during literature re-
search; and to Anton Koster, Andr Niederer, Martin Gutknecht and Astrid
Knzler from the graphics and printing department for help in typesetting,
graphical design and poster printing.
While the Empa Wood Lab was my centre for research activities, the working
group Wood Biology & Wood Products at the Georg-August-University in Gttin-
gen provided the institutional framework for my PhD. During my periodic visits I
was always welcomed warmly by the entire working group. Among them all, I
express a special gratitude to Susanne, Carsten, Uli, Andr, Karl, Bernd und Mirko
for professional technical support and great hospitality.
My research activities offered me the possibility to conduct some measurements
away from Empa. I carried out chemical and UV-spectroscopic analysis of wood
specimens at the Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology in Hamburg.
PD. Dr. Gerald Koch, Prof. Dr. Bodo Saake and their working groups are acknowl-
edged profoundly for their professional assistance. To Gerald, in specific, I ex-
press my deep gratitude for the long lasting idealistic support and the sincere
cooperation with him during my PhD and in times before.

i Acknowledgements

Prof. Dr. Hrvoje Turkulin and Vjekoslav ivkovi enabled me to visit the Wood
Technology Department at the University of Zagreb and conduct microtensile
measurements. I truly appreciate their competent and helpful guidance mixed
with hospitality and amicable welcome.
Apart from the professional support, I experienced a lot of private encourage-
ment from friends and family that provided me with the required strength to
bring this thesis to a successful end.
While I certainly did not discuss too many scientific details with Bandli, Marc,
Nils and rnie; Holger, Tilmann, Klaus and Mirko, our old friendships were a ne-
cessary balance for myself and many times offered me efficient distraction from
mental blockades.
My former student mates Jan, Oli, Uli, Philip, Jan Peter and Hauke certainly must
obtain a very personal acknowledgement at this place: it's just great to still have
you around. Thanks for your mental support, for corrections and technical advis-
es, and for honest discussions on future decisions we had! I cross my fingers that
you get your projects finished successfully soon and we will keep our friendship
going!
Being a German in Switzerland can sometimes be a little tricky. But, honestly, my
family and I felt always comfortable and warmly welcome in this nice country.
This was definitely carried by the nice friendships we made to Ruedi, Michi &
Angelika, Kde & Franzi, Candid & Ariane, Ingo & Vaike, Danielle and to Beat.
Finally and this is not just the 'must-say-at-the-end' the biggest support was
certainly given to me by my parents and sisters Annette and Katrin;
and by Karen and Janno! THANK YOU!

Table of contents ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. i
Table of contents ................................................................................................................................ ii
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... iii
Summary ............................................................................................................................................... iv
Zusammenfassung .............................................................................................................................. v
List of publications ........................................................................................................................... vi
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
2 Permeability of Norway spruce wood .............................................................................. 3
3 Bioincising ..................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 5
3.2 Mechanism of Action ...................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Incubation parameters .................................................................................................. 6
3.3.1 Water activity a
w
and oxygen supply ........................................................ 7
3.3.2 Temperature ........................................................................................................ 7
3.3.3 pH ............................................................................................................................. 8
3.3.4 Nutrient supply and carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N-ratio) .................. 8
4 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 Material characterization of the bioincised wood ............................................. 9
4.2 Treatment with surface modification substances ............................................. 9
4.3 Wood properties after bioincising and surface modification ..................... 10
5 Experimental ............................................................................................................................. 10
5.1 Incubation ......................................................................................................................... 10
5.2 Laboratory experiments and analysis .................................................................. 12
6 Results and discussion ........................................................................................................... 13
6.1 Material characterization of the bioincised wood ........................................... 13
6.2 Treatment with surface modification substances ........................................... 16
6.3 Wood properties after bioincising and surface modification ..................... 20
6.3.1 Hydrophobation ............................................................................................... 20
6.3.2 Surface Hardness ............................................................................................. 20
6.3.3 Fire resistance ................................................................................................... 22

ii Table of contents

6.4 Incubation method ....................................................................................................... 23
7 Conclusions and Outlook ...................................................................................................... 25
8 References .................................................................................................................................. 27
9 List of figures ............................................................................................................................. 31
10 List of tables ............................................................................................................................... 32
11 Annex ............................................................................................................................................ 33

Abbreviations iii

ABBREVIATIONS
DMDHEU 1.3-dimethylol-4.5-dihydroxyethyleneurea
HW heartwood
kDa kiloDalton (measure of weight for protein molecules)
LP ligninperoxidase
L x R x T longitudinal x radial x tangential
MEA malt extract agar
MP manganperoxidase
PG polygalacturonase
RH relative humidity
SW sapwood
WMC wood moisture content
WPG weight percent gain

iv Summary

SUMMARY
As solid wood, Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is used in a wide range of
applications for interior and exterior situations. Due to its low natural durability
against wood decay fungi, a treatment with wood preservatives is necessary for
certain applications. In addition, there is a growing interest for treatment with
waterborne surface modification substances that specifically improve selected
wood properties of Norway spruce such as UV-resistance, hydrophobicity, hard-
ness and fire resistance. The impregnation with such substances requires often a
wood permeability that allows a sufficiently deep and homogenous distribution
of the substances in the wood in order to obtain an efficient wood property im-
provement.
However, Norway spruce wood is known to have a low permeability which is re-
lated mainly to the aspiration of bordered pits during wood drying. In the living
tree, permeability is mainly determined by the bordered and half bordered pits
that constitute the interconnecting voids between the tracheids and the xylem
ray parenchyma. During wood drying, most of these pits get irreversibly closed
due to the aspiration of the flexible pit membranes. The resulting low impregna-
bility complicates treatment of Norway spruce with liquid preservatives or wood
modification substances.
Short term incubation of Norway spruce wood with the white rot fungus Physis-
porinus vitreus is a biotechnological approach for improving the permeability of
this refractory species. The process, called "bioincising", is based on the growth
of the fungal hyphae through the tracheids and xylem ray parenchyma. As dis-
cussed by Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) and Schwarze et al. (2006), fungal
activity induces the degradation of pit membranes after 6 weeks of incubation
and thus significantly improves the uptake of liquid substances, causing only
negligible losses of impact bending strength.
The scope of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of P. vitreus' activity on the
properties of Norway spruce sapwood and heartwood during incubation times
between 3 and 9 weeks. In the course the thesis, three major fields of research
were defined: 1) description of fungal activity and of the resulting wood proper-
ties after bioincising; 2) uptake and penetration depth of modification sub-
stances into the bioincised wood was, and 3) combined effect of bioincising and
treatment with modification substances on the wood properties.
It could be shown that fungal activity of P. vitreus induces both a selective delig-
nification and a simultaneous degradation in the tracheid cell walls. Degradation
of pit membranes and damages of the tracheid cell wall occurred simultaneously.
Mass losses were comparably low and surface hardness was moderately re-

Summary iv

duced, indicating that P. vitreus is a fungus with a comparably low lignolytic ca-
pacity. Substance uptake and penetration depth were significantly improved af-
ter 5 weeks of incubation in both sapwood and heartwood specimens. However,
impregnation of the bioincised wood with modification substances for UV-
protection, hydrophobation, hardness and fire resistance did not result in a pro-
nounced property improvement.
The bioincising technique is still in the process of optimization. Parameters such
as water activity a
w
, temperature, pH and nutrient supply influence mycelia
growth speed and homogeneity of fungal activity. These parameters must be ad-
justed for an optimal process control. The results of the presented research activ-
ities contribute to the improvement of this process control. A new pilot incuba-
tion system has recently been developed and promises further improvement of
the bioincising process.
However, large scale industrial application is still far away. From the current
state of development, products with smaller dimensions, lower quantities and
higher value creation appear to be a feasible pathway for the near future of bio-
incising.

v Zusammenfassung

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Als Massivholz wird Fichte (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in einer Vielzahl von Anwen-
dung im Innen-und Auenbereich verwendet. Auf Grund seiner geringen natrli-
chen Dauerhaftigkeit gegen holzzerstrende Pilze ist eine Behandlung mit Holz-
schutzmitteln fr bestimmte Anwendungen erforderlich. Auerdem besteht ein
wachsendes Interesse an der Behandlung von Fichtenholz mit wasserbasierten
Modifizierungssubstanzen, die spezifische Eigenschaften der Holzoberflche
verbessern, wie z.B. UV-Stabilitt, Hydrophobizitt, Hrte und Feuer-
widerstandsfhigkeit. Die Imprgnierung mit solchen Substanzen erfordert oft-
mals eine Holzpermeabilitt, welche eine ausreichend tiefe und homogene Ver-
teilung der Wirksubstanzen im Holz erlaubt, um eine deutliche Eigenschaftsver-
besserung zu erreichen.
Allerdings weist Fichtenholz eine geringe Permeabilitt auf, die auf einen Tpfel-
verschluss im Laufe der Holztrocknung zurckzufhren ist. Im lebenden Baum
wird die Permeabilitt hauptschlich durch die behften und halb-behften Tp-
fel bestimmt, die die Verbindungskanle zwischen den Tracheiden und Holz-
strahlzellen darstellen. Whrend der Holztrocknung werden die meisten dieser
Tpfel durch eine irreversible Anlagerung der flexiblen Tpfelmembran an die
Zellwand verschlossen. Die sich daraus ergebende verringerte Imprgnierbarkeit
erschwert die Behandlung von Fichtenholz mit Holzschutzmitteln und Modifizie-
rungssubstanzen.
Die Behandlung von Fichtenholz mit dem Weifulepilz Physisporinus vitreus
ber einen kurzen Zeitraum ist ein biotechnologischer Versuch, die Permeabilitt
von schwer imprgnierbaren Holzarten zu erhhen. Das so genannte "Bioinci-
sing"-Verfahren basiert auf dem Wachstum von Pilzhyphen durch die Tracheiden
und Holzstrahlzellen. Wie in den Arbeiten von Schwarze und Landmesser (2000)
und Schwarze et al. (2006) diskutiert, bewirkt die Pilzaktivitt einen Abbau der
Tpfelmembranen und erhht somit nach 6 Wochen Inkubation signifikant die
Flssigkeitsaufnahme, ohne hierbei eine nennenswerte Reduktion der Bruch-
schlagfestigkeit zu verursachen.
Hauptaufgabe in der vorliegenden Doktorarbeit war eine Beurteilung der Effekte
auf die Eigenschaften von Fichtensplint und kernholz, die sich nach einer 3 bis
9-wchigen Inkubation mit P. vitreus ergeben. Es wurden hierfr drei Bereiche
fr die wissenschaftliche Forschung definiert: 1) die Beschreibung der Pilzaktivi-
tt und die daraus resultierenden Eigenschaftsvernderungen des Fichtenholzes;
2) die Vernderung der Substanzaufnahme und der qualitativen Eindringtiefe
und 3) die Beurteilung des Gesamteffektes, der sich aus der Kombination von Bi-
oincising und der anschliessenden Behandlung mit Modifizierungssubstanzen
auf ausgewhlte Holzeigenschaften ergibt.

Zusammenfassung v

Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Aktivitt von P. vitreus eine selektive Deligni-
fizierung und einen simultanen Abbau in den Tracheiden-Zellwnden hervorruft.
Weiterhin wurde ein gleichzeitiger Abbau von Tpfelmembranen und eine Sch-
digung der Tracheiden-Zellwnde beobachtet. Hierbei waren die Masseverluste
gering und die Oberflchenhrte wurde nur wenig reduziert, was auf eine ver-
gleichsweise geringe holzzersetzende Aktivitt von P. vitreus hinweist. Substanz-
aufnahme und Eindringtiefe waren nach 5-wchiger Inkubation sowohl im
Splint- als auch im Kernholz signifikant erhht. Es konnten allerdings keine deut-
lichen Eigenschaftsverbesserungen nach einer Imprgnierung mit Substanzen
fr die UV-Stabilitt, Hydrophobizitt, Hrte und Feuerwiderstandsfhigkeit ge-
messen werden.
Der Bioincising-Prozess ist derzeit noch in der Optimierungsphase. Verschiedene
Parameter wie Wasseraktivitt a
w
, Temperatur, pH-Wert und Nhrstoffangebot
beeinflussen die Geschwindigkeit und Homogeneitt der Pilzbesiedlung und
aktivitt und mssen fr eine verbesserte Prozesskontrolle weiter optimiert
werden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit tragen zu dieser Prozessoptimierung bei.
Eine weiterentwickelte Pilotanlage wurde krzlich in Betrieb genommen und
verspricht einen verbesserten Inkubationsprozess.
Eine grotechnische Anwendung des Bioincising-Verfahrens liegt jedoch in fer-
ner Zukunft. Auf Grundlage des aktuellen Kenntnisstandes ist eine Anwendung
des Bioincising-Verfahren fr hochwertige Produkte mit kleineren Dimensionen
und in geringeren Stckzahlen wahrscheinlich.

vi List of publications

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Paper I
Bioincised wood as substrate for surface modifications.
Lehringer, C., Arnold, M., Richter, K., Schubert, M., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H.
In: Englund F, Hill CAS, Militz H, Segerholm BK (Hg.) The Fourth European Con-
ference on Wood Modification. Stockholm, 2009: 197-200.

Paper II
A review on promising approaches for liquid permeability improvement in
softwoods.
Lehringer, C., Richter, K., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H.
Wood Fiber Science, 2009, 41: 373-385.

Paper III
Anatomy of bioincised Norway spruce wood.
Lehringer, C., Hillebrand, K., Richter, K., Arnold, M., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H.
International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 2010, 64: 346-355.

Paper IV
Resistance of bioincised wood treated with wood preservatives to blue-
stain and wood-decay fungi.
Schubert, M. Volkmer; T., Lehringer, C., Schwarze, F.W.M.R.
International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 2011, 65, 1: 108-115.

Paper V
Effect of Physisporinus vitreus on wood properties of Norway spruce.
Part 1: Aspects of delignification and surface hardness.
Lehringer, C., Koch, G., Adusumalli, R.-B., Mook, W.M., Richter, K., Militz, H.
Holzforschung, 2011: accepted.

Paper VI
Part 2: Aspects of microtensile strength and chemical changes.
Lehringer, C., Saake, B., ivkovi, V., Richter, K., Militz, H.
Holzforschung, 2011: submitted.


Introduction 1

1 INTRODUCTION
Wood is a desired material. The UNECE region consumes 1.2 billion cubic meters
of wood annually for construction, paper, other wood products, and energy (UN-
ECE/FAO 2010). Worldwide, the demand for wood as renewable source is in-
creasing, since non-renewable materials are increasingly being replaced by wood
products, especially in the energy sector. Today, the major source of renewable
energy is from woody biomass (UNECE/FAO 2010). This development induces
shortages of supply for the material use of wood and thus increasing raw materi-
al prices. The increasing competition for wood requires a more efficient material
utilization. This includes not only recycling and material savings, but also the life-
time extension of wood products.
The life-time of wood products is mainly determined by the environmental con-
ditions to which they are exposed and the specific wood properties. Microorgan-
isms, moisture and temperature changes, light and UV-radiation, abrasion and
mechanical forces represent stresses to the material that must be counterba-
lanced by the wood properties such as natural durability, density and dimen-
sional stability (Bergman et al. 2010).
Wood has advantageous properties such as a good strength-to-weight ratio, a
warm and aesthetic appearance and a natural degradability that makes it an en-
vironmentally sustainable material (Rowell 2005). But wood is also a hygroscop-
ic material that reacts to changes of moisture content (Siau 1995) by swelling
and shrinking. Under the influence of UV-radiation (e.g. from sunlight), lignin can
be depolymerized, resulting in a yellow-brownish-black discoloration of the
wood surface (Feist and Hon 1984). The flash point of wood is between 200C
and 470C, making it an easily combustible material (Bergman et al. 2010). And
finally, because of its biodegradability wood is susceptible to decay by microor-
ganisms under certain conditions, such as increased moisture content (Schmidt
2006).
While all processes of natural depolymerization of the lignocellulosic biopoly-
mers are essential for ecosystem stability, they are mostly considered as a hin-
drance for technical wood applications and reduce the life-time of wood prod-
ucts. They can explicitly be avoided by wood modification that involves the ap-
plication of biological (fungi, bacteria, enzymes), physical (heat) or chemical
(chemicals) methods (Hill 2006). Especially the treatment with chemical sub-
stances requires a wood permeability that allows a sufficiently deep and homo-
genous distribution of the substances into the wood (Hill 2006).
Some wood species such as Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) are known to
have a low permeability (Liese and Bauch 1967b; Flynn 1995). For these wood

2 Introduction

species, impregnation with wood preservatives or other wood modification sub-
stances is very complex and a penetration deeper than the surface layer (Figure
1, Paper II) is difficult to be achieved. Consequently, permeability improvement
of the wood border zone is a feasible way to enhance the substance uptake.

Figure 1 Schematic of different zones of the wood surface used to describe liquid penetration in radial and
tangential directions (Paper II).
A variety of modification substances is applied in order to improve selected
wood properties. According to their mode of function and to the property-to be
improved, certain penetration depths have to be achieved 1) in order to ensure
homogenous distribution of the modification substances and 2) to obtain an op-
timal effect and a maximum lifetime performance. For example, a treatment for
wood preservation requires much deeper penetration into the wood than a
treatment for UV-protection substances. Table 1 gives an overview of these mod-
ification approaches, including the targeted improvement and the required indi-
vidual penetration depth in the tangential and radial orientations (more detailed
in Paper II).
Table 1 Wood preservation and wood modification treatments according to the required penetration depth
of the applied substance (extracted from Paper II).
Property improvement
Desired penetration depth in tangential and radial
orientation
Resistance against biodegrada-
tion/ durability
Complete penetration or at least border zone following certain
standards (e.g. EN 335-2; EN 351-1)
UV-protection Surface layer and subsurface area
Hydrophobation liquid water Surface layer and subsurface area
Hydrophobation water vapor Complete or at least border zone penetration
Fire resistance foam forming
systems
Surface layer and subsurface area
Fire resistance salt solutions Subsurface area to border zone
Hardness Subsurface area to border zone

Permeability of Norway spruce wood 3

The main goal of the present work was to investigate the permeability improve-
ment of Norway spruce wood by means of a biotechnological approach, named
"bioincising". I discussed short term incubation of Norway spruce sapwood and
heartwood with the white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus and the resulting ef-
fect on wood permeability. Furthermore, I conducted detailed material characte-
rization of the bioincised wood. Finally, I evaluated if enhanced uptake of se-
lected modification substances resulted in a property improvement such as UV-
resistance, hydrophobicity, hardness and fire resistance.
The following sections represent a synopsis of the major research activities and a
discussion of the most important results. More detailed information can be found
in the scientific papers as summarized in the Annex at the end of this work and
indicated with cross references in the text.
2 PERMEABILITY OF NORWAY SPRUCE WOOD
With a share of 45 % of the national timber volume, Norway spruce is the most
important timber species in Switzerland (LFI 2010). As solid wood, Norway
spruce is used in a wide range of applications, such as construction material for
interior and exterior situations, for faade claddings or for wood floorings (Wa-
genfhr 2007). But Norway spruce wood has a low natural durability against
wood decay fungi, and is assigned to durability class 4 according to EN 350-2
(1994). This requires a chemical wood preservation when the wood is used in
structural constructions of utility class 4 (EN 460 1994; EN 335-2 2006). In addi-
tion, there is a growing interest for a treatment with waterborne surface modifi-
cation substances that specifically improve selected wood properties of Norway
spruce such as UV-resistance, hydrophobicity, hardness and fire resistance.
Generally, vacuum-pressure impregnation is used on industrial scale to treat the
wood with wood preservatives, e.g. with waterborne metal salts (Richardson
2001). Compared to other wood species, Norway spruce is difficult to be impreg-
nated with wood preservatives and other modifications substances. The refrac-
tory behavior is due to the aspiration of the pit membranes in the tracheid cell
walls (Figure 1). In the living tree, these bordered and half-bordered pits provide
interconnecting voids between the adjacent tracheids and in the crossfields of
tracheid and xylem ray parenchyma cells (Hacke et al. 2004). The pits substan-
tially determine the permeability of a softwood species. During wood drying, wa-
ter evaporates from the wood surface and causes a capillary suction in the
tracheids (Salin 2006). Air enters the capillary system and causes different pres-
sure levels in adjacent tracheids. In consequence, the elastic pit membrane is def-
lected and the thickened part of the membrane (torus) attaches to the opening in
the cell wall (porus); this closure is called aspiration". Aspiration is considered
to be irreversible because of the formation of hydrogen bonds between the to-

4 Permeability of Norway spruce wood

rus/margo and the pit opening (Liese and Bauch 1967b; a; Thomas and
Kringstad 1971). Thus, a subsequent introduction of liquid substances is difficult,
so that even with highly efficient vacuum-pressure impregnation techniques pe-
netration depths of only a few millimeters are achieved (Flynn 1995).

Figure 2 Bordered pits act as interconnecting voids between adjacent tracheids. After aspiration, the torus
restricts the flow of fluids (Paper II). Scale bar 20 m.
In the past, several mechanical systems were developed to achieve a deeper and
homogenous distribution of liquid substances into refractory wood species (Per-
rin 1978; Keith and Chauret 1988; Richter 1989; Morris et al. 1994). On industri-
al scale, incising technologies like drilling and slit-perforation are well estab-
lished for permeability improvement of the wood border zone. Hereby, small
openings of down to 5 cm depth are driven into the wood surface. These open-
ings act as pathways for subsequent intrusion of wood preservatives and modifi-
cation substances. However, the physical damages reduce the mechanical
strength and the visible marks on the wood surface limit the application of in-
cised wood to areas where aesthetic aspects are of minor importance. In North
America, mechanical incising technologies are widely used for the pretreatment
of sawn wood, whereas in Europe, they are mostly limited to the airsoil zone
treatment of poles.
As alternative to these mechanical approaches, different biotechnological con-
cepts were developed to improve the wood permeability. Observations from wa-
ter storage ("ponding") of wood over longer periods revealed that bacteria selec-
tively degraded the pit membranes and thus induced a significant permeability
improvement (nligil 1972; Kobayashi 1998). The systematic treatment of wood
with these bacteria (Nijdam et al. 2001) or with isolated enzymes (Nicholas and
Thomas 1968; Militz 1993) showed to improve the permeability under certain
conditions, but none of the processes was brought to industrial application.
Process control is complex and areas of improved permeability are always hete-
rogeneously distributed in the wood substrate. Moreover, an efficient and homo-
genous introduction of bacteria and enzymes deeper into the wood is difficult
due their own immobility and due to the impermeability of the aspirated pit
membranes.
Porus
Torus
Margo/
Membrane
Compound
Middle Lamella
Secondary
Cell wall
open aspirated
Porus
Torus
Margo/
Membrane
Compound
Middle Lamella
Secondary
Cell wall
open aspirated

Bioincising 5

The application of wood colonizing fungi for permeability improvement prom-
ised to overcome these problems. In contrast to isolated enzymes or bacteria,
wood colonizing fungi show a higher mobility and spread their enzymes actively
by mycelia penetration into the substrate. During the first period of substrate co-
lonization, the excreted enzymes alter the chemical structure of the pit mem-
branes and contribute to their selective degradation with almost no negative ef-
fect on the strength properties of the wood matrix (Messner et al. 2003).
3 BIOINCISING
3.1 BACKGROUND
When Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) investigated the basidiomycete Physis-
porinus vitreus on wood of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and Norway
spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), they reported that the fungus had selectively de-
graded the membranes of bordered pits and half-bordered pits. P. vitreus was
originally isolated from cooling towers where it was found to degrade the con-
struction timber under very moist conditions (Schmidt et al. 1996). Subsequent
laboratory studies (Schwarze et al. 2006) showed that P. vitreus caused a signifi-
cant permeability improvement in Norway spruce and Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.)
after six weeks of incubation inducing only negligible reduction of the impact
bending strength. Hereby, the effect was not limited exclusively to the sapwood,
but also in the normally more resistant heartwood a significant permeability im-
provement was recorded. In previous studies, Rosner et al. (1998) and Messner
et al. (2003) used Trichoderma spp. to increase the permeability of Norway
spruce logs prior to preservative treatment. The procedure resulted in a higher
uptake of wood preservatives in the sapwood of spruce, but the heartwood re-
mained unaffected.
Thus, the treatment with the white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus is considered
to be a promising approach for enhancing the uptake of preservatives and wood
modification substances in the sapwood and heartwood of refractory wood spe-
cies. The process was named "bioincising" and patented by Schwarze (2008). A
thorough overview of the mechanism of action and the differences towards pre-
vious biotechnological approaches is given in Paper II. However, a brief summary
of the most important aspects will be presented in the following sections.
3.2 MECHANISM OF ACTION
The permeability improvement occurs due to fungal growth from the radial and
tangential wood surfaces into deeper areas of the wood block. The hyphae large-
ly follow the nutrient-rich ray parenchyma cells and spread from there into the
adjacent tracheids. According to Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) and Schwarze
et al. (2006) this occurs primarily by selective degradation of membranes in the
crossfield pits or bordered pits.

6 Bioincising

This selectivity towards pit membrane degradation is one of the crucial aspects
for a successful bioincising process. During the investigations for this thesis I re-
vealed that P. vitreus did not selectively degrade the pit membranes, but also de-
graded the cell wall constituents simultaneously. The high selectivity towards pit
membrane hydrolysis, as described by Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) and
Schwarze et al. (2006), could not be confirmed. Moreover, I identified selective
delignification and simultaneous degradation in close proximity to each other,
comprising the decay patterns of a white rot fungus and a soft rot type I and II.
One possibility for this non-selective degradation is that the incubation parame-
ters were not optimized.
Obviously, the environmental growth conditions have a central influence on the
mechanism of P. vitreus colonizing the wood of Norway spruce. The speed and
homogeneity of substrate colonization and the selectivity of fungal activity to-
wards pit membrane degradation is determined by the incubation parameters, as
discussed below and in the Papers III, V, and VI.
3.3 INCUBATION PARAMETERS
Activity of wood decay fungi is subject to change over a period of time, as de-
scribed by a sigmoid growth curve (Figure 3, Rypacek 1966; Zabel and Morrell
1992; Schmidt 2006). For an efficient bioincising process, a short lag phase and a
high growth rate of P. vitreus are required. The lag phase is the period of time be-
tween the introduction of a wood decay fungus on a substrate and the time it be-
gins to exponentially degrade the wood substance. The incubation procedure has
to be interrupted at the end of the lag phase or the early log phase by steam steri-
lization (Schubert 2010; personal communication). At later stages the risk of ma-
jor strength losses especially at the substrate surface starts to increase.

Figure 3 Representative growth curve of a wood decay fungus (after Rypacek 1966; Zabel and Morrell 1992;
Schmidt 2006).
During the lag phase, wood degradation is low since the fungus adapts to the en-
vironmental conditions in the substrate, enzyme excretion is moderate and pre-
Lag phase Log phase Stationary phase Death phase
Time
D
e
c
a
y

i
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

max
optimal
incubation time
risk of progressing
degradation

Bioincising 7

ferably freely available carbohydrates are metabolized without causing major
damages to the cell wall structure. The mycelium grows through the wood most-
ly following the ray parenchyma. Schwarze et al. (2006) mentioned that the hy-
phae of P. vitreus grow in the ray parenchyma and in the lumina of the tracheids,
preferentially hydrolyzing the membranes of bordered pits and crossfield pits.
The log phase is characterized by an exponential increase of fungal activity. The
fungus has established its mycelium, and hyphal growth proceeds quickly in the
tracheids until decay intensity reaches a stationary phase. Here, the fungal activi-
ty remains on a stable level until limitation of nutrients reduces the hyphal
growth and with it the decay intensity.
In the following, the most relevant parameter for incubation will be presented
and briefly discussed.
3.3.1 WATER ACTIVITY A
W
AND OXYGEN SUPPLY
Water activity a
w
1
is a highly significant parameter for P. vitreus growth, as
shown by Schubert et al. (2009). The minimum for wood decay basidiomycetes
on MEA is a
w
= 0.97 (Schmidt 2006). For P. vitreus, growth was fastest at
a
w
= 0.998 and decreased drastically at a
w
= 0.982; at a
w
= 0.955, no growth was
detected within the incubation period of 20 days (Schubert et al. 2009).
Schmidt et al. (1996; 1997) observed an extraordinarily strong dependence of
P. vitreus on high moisture levels. They reported preferential colonization and
degradation of water-saturated Norway spruce wood with low oxygen content
(wood moisture content, WMC > 100%). At WMC > 90%, fungal growth within
wood is normally impeded because of the lack of oxygen. This is not the case
with P. vitreus and highlights the remarkable biological capacity of this fungus to
degrade timber in the special habitat of extremely moist wood.
3.3.2 TEMPERATURE
Schubert et al. (2009), also found that the incubation was strongly dependent on
temperature, especially in combination with water activity a
w
. The optimum
temperature for supporting growth was 20C at a
w
= 0.982 and growth decreased
with decreasing temperature. However, P. vitreus showed detectable growth at
all temperatures tested.

1
Water actitivity a
w
: measure for free or unbound water available in wood for microbial growth.
For microorganisms not the whole water content of the substrate is available, but only the part of
the total water which is not hygroscopically bound (Schmidt 2006).

8 Objectives

3.3.3 PH
The pH has a significant influence, but according to Schubert et al. (2009) it plays
a secondary role. It was considered to be optimal at pH 5.
3.3.4 NUTRIENT SUPPLY AND CARBON/NITROGEN RATIO (C/N-RATIO)
The carbon/nitrogen-ratio (C/N-ratio) of the nutrient medium has an important
influence on the selectivity of P. vitreus (Levi and Cowling 1969; Kirk et al. 1978;
Reid 1983; Dill and Kraepelin 1986; Rios and Eyzaguirre 1992; Wang et al.
1997). Selective delignification is promoted by a low nitrogen concentration in
the nutrient medium and it is well established that a narrow C/N-ratio usually
facilitates the degradation of polysaccharides by wood decay fungi. Thus, a wide
C/N-ratio might be favorable as will be discussed further below in chapter 6.4
and in Papers III and VI.
4 OBJECTIVES
The bioincising process is still in the procedure of optimization and an upscaling
is currently being attempted. The activities are methodically subdivided into two
major fields of activity (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Major fields of research during optimization and upscaling of the bioincising process.
The first set of investigations covered the biotechnological process control and
development that was basically undertaken by mycologists in the working group
"Wood protection and Biotechnology" at Empa St. Gallen. Physical, chemical and
biological growth parameters and their sensitive control during fungal incuba-
tion were investigated.

Determination of optimal
process parameters

Description of properties
after fungal activity
Determination of substance
uptake and penetration
Combined effect of bioincising
and surface modification
Optimization
and upscaling
of the
bioincising
process
F
e
e
d
b
a
c
k

Biotechnological activities at Empa St. Gallen

Christian Lehringer's activities

Incubation of wood with

Material
characterization
Evaluation of
wood properties
Treatment with surface
modification substances

Objectives 9

Secondly, during my own investigations, the bioincised wood was subject of sys-
tematic quality control and material characterization that generated information
for a feedback to process optimization. Knowledge about the wood-fungus inte-
raction and possible adverse effects on the final wood properties allowed more
specific corrections and improvements of the bioincising process. Within the
scope of my work, I defined three major work packages that served as methodo-
logical frame for the outcome of this thesis.
4.1 MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BIOINCISED WOOD
The characterization of the bioincised wood included the description of the wood
properties and anatomical characteristics that were influenced by fungal activity
over a period of 9 weeks incubation. Hereby, special focus was set on the growth
behavior of P. vitreus' hyphae through the wood. Four major aspects were ad-
dressed:
1. Homogeneity of the substrate colonization and the fungal activity of P. vi-
treus.
2. Selectivity of pit membranes degradation during incipient period of sub-
strate colonization.
3. Quantification of cell wall damages during incipient period of substrate
colonization.
4. Evaluation of P. vitreus' decay pattern according to Schmidt (2006).
Furthermore, material characteristics were determined that could give evidence
for mechanical and chemical alterations, such as mass loss, decrease of surface
hardness, degree of delignification, changes of gas permeability, and pH-values.
Among the three work packages, the majority of scientific activities was dep-
loyed within this field. The idea was to gain a thorough understanding of the bio-
incised wood properties before progressing to the application and evaluation of
surface modification substances (see also Table 2 in chapter 5.2).
4.2 TREATMENT WITH SURFACE MODIFICATION SUBSTANCES
The main objective in this working package was to gather information about the
penetration behavior of different wood modification substances in the bioincised
wood. Three different application methods were used: brushing, dipping and va-
cuum impregnation (Paper I). Different commercial products for hydrophoba-
tion, UV-protection, fire resistance and surface hardness were applied and their
efficiency was evaluated.
The determination of the quantitative substance uptake by weight measure-
ments provided information about the overall permeability improvement in the

10 Experimental

wood samples. In addition, systematic microscopic analysis of cross sections re-
vealed the qualitative penetration depth of the modifications substances into the
wood (Paper II). These two measurements allowed the interpretation of the fol-
lowing aspects:
1. Quantity and quality of substance distribution in the bioincised wood.
2. Relation between application method and the penetration depth and
quality.
3. Determination of (preferable) pathways of intrusion (radial or tangential,
via ray parenchyma or tracheid lumina).
4.3 WOOD PROPERTIES AFTER BIOINCISING AND SURFACE MODIFICATION
Bioincising of the wood (surface) is expected to have several effects on the wood
properties. First, a permeability improvement allows an increased substance up-
take of the bioincised wood. Depending on the specific mode of modification, a
better performance of this substance is then conceivable. Second, potentially ad-
verse effects from bioincising are also possible, such as reduced mechanical
properties, increased combustibility, altered chemical behavior of the substrate
surface (e.g. pH-value), or raised susceptibility for microbial attack. These ad-
verse effects can overshadow the enhanced performance of the applied modifica-
tion substance to a level where in the end a negative overall result is recorded.
Hence, two major objectives were defined:
1. Relation between enhanced uptake of the specific modification substance
and the resulting wood properties.
2. Detection of adverse effects of bioincising for the overall performance of
the surface modification procedure.
5 EXPERIMENTAL
5.1 INCUBATION
All experiments were conducted on laboratory scale with wood specimens from
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) that measured 20 x 3 x 3 cm (L x R x T).
This sample size was bigger than that from previous laboratory studies
(Schwarze and Landmesser 2000; Schwarze et al. 2006) and was chosen due for
the intended process upscaling.
After infection with Physisporinus vitreus, the wood specimens were stored for 3,
5, 7, and 9 weeks in sealed containers on 1% malt extract agar (MEA) at 22C
(detailed material and methods in Papers III, V and VI). The specimens were po-
sitioned with the tangential surface directly on the nutrient medium in order to
promote hyphal growth via the xylem ray parenchyma. Even though it differs

Experimental 11

from the normal procedure, the direct contact to the nutrient medium allowed a
faster colonization of the fungus into the wood. However, one major disadvan-
tage of this incubation method is apparent from Figure 5. Substrate colonization
occurred rather heterogeneously, possibly due to the unequal distribution of nu-
trients and moisture content. In the bottom area of the specimens, fungal activity
was always the highest. Hence, a differentiation of the specimen surfaces was ne-
cessary. If in the following not indicated specifically, sample preparation for ex-
perimental work was done from the bottom of the specimens.

Figure 5 Above: Schematic illustration of incubation setup (Paper V). After infection with Physisporinus vi-
treus, the wood specimens were stored for 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks in sealed containers on a 1% malt extract
agar (MEA) at 22C. After removal of the surface mycelium, slightly discolored areas indicated a heteroge-
neous colonization of the fungus into the wood. Below: Photograph of a specimen after removal from the
nutrient medium. Scale bar = 3 cm

12 Experimental

5.2 LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND ANALYSIS
A broad range of experimental and analytical methods was applied within the
three work packages shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Work packages and analytical methods that were applied (I to VI = results published in scientific
Paper, *results evaluated but not published in a scientific journal).
Characterization of the
bioincised wood
Treatment of the
bioincised wood with
surface modification
substances
Evaluation of property
changes after
bioincising and surface
modification
Anatomy (III)
by light microscopy
Mass loss (III to VI)
by weight measurement
Hardness (V)
by Brinell hardness, na-
noindentation
Delignification (V)
by light microscopy,
Ultramicrospectro-
photometry (UMSP)
Microtensile strength (VI)
by finite span and zero
span testing of thin strips
Chemistry (VI)
by wet chemical analysis,
Fourier Transform Infra-
red Spectroscopy (FT-IR)
Gas permeability*
Substance uptake (I)
by weight measurement
Penetration depth (I)
by light microscopy

Fire resistance (I)
by mass loss determination
Hydrophobation*
by artificial weathering,
sorption, wettability
UV-resistance*
by artificial weathering,
measurement of discolora-
tion
Hardness*
by Brinell hardness
Most of the results of the experiments were published in scientific articles that
are enclosed in the appendix. A synopsis of the essential published results will be
given in the following sections, together with selected results that were not pub-
lished so far. These results are included because they present valuable supple-
mentary information to the laboratory experiments.

Results and discussion 13

6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
6.1 MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BIOINCISED WOOD
A detailed microscopic analysis of structural changes during bioincising is pre-
sented in Paper III. I found that P. vitreus caused both a selective delignification
and a soft rot Type I and II in tracheid cell walls comprising a high heterogeneity
during wood colonization (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Transverse sections of Norway spruce wood after 9 weeks incubation with Physisporinus vitreus
(Paper III). 1.: Selective delignification. 2.: Hyphal tunneling and soft rot in secondary walls of tracheids. Sec-
tions stained with acridine orange and viewed with UV-excitation. Scale bars = 10 m.
After statistical evaluation it was apparent that the degradation of pit mem-
branes occurred simultaneously with the formation of boreholes, cavities and
notches in tracheid cell walls (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Intensity of Physisporinus vitreus activity on bordered pits, half bordered pits and tracheid cell wall
after different incubation times (Paper III). The values of sapwood/heartwood and earlywood/latewood
were combined for more explicit illustration. The error bars reflect the overall standard deviation. (*) = sig-
nificant difference of the data from 7 and 9 weeks compared to the data of 3 and 5 weeks (p< 0.05).

14 Results and discussion

The activity of P. vitreus was higher in the sapwood, but a notable effect was also
recorded in the heartwood. The occurrence of selective delignification and simul-
taneous degradation of lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses could furthermore be
demonstrated by Ultramicrospectrophotometry (UMSP, Paper V), by Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and by wet chemical analysis (both
Paper VI).
Analysis of Brinell hardness revealed a significant hardness reduction in the sub-
surface area after 7 and 9 weeks incubation which was attributed to the partial
delignification and mechanical disintegration of the tracheid cell walls (Paper V).
Results from nanoindentation tests did not show a clear effect of fungal activity
because of the material heterogeneity and the high spatial resolution of this
technique (Paper V). However, nanoindentation was an interesting methodologi-
cal approach to the investigation of mechanical changes at the subcellular level
due to fungal degradation.
Microtensile tests were conducted on thin strips in order to better understand
the chemical alterations of the wood constituents due to fungal activity and the
corresponding changes of mechanical properties. In accordance with previous
results, indications for the occurrence of selective delignification and simultane-
ous degradation were evident also with this method (Paper VI).
In all these experiments, the analytical methods were near the limit of detection,
which was especially true for FT-IR and wet chemical analysis. This was mostly
due to the low mass losses of below 10 % (Paper III, V, VI). In accordance to oth-
er works (Schwarze and Landmesser 2000; Schwarze et al. 2006; Schwarze et al.
2008) P. vitreus showed a low degradative potential and induced relatively low
mass losses compared to other white rot fungi such as Trametes versicolor.
Measurements of longitudinal gas permeability were conducted to document the
effect of fungal activity on the wood. Dried and filtered air (step-wise increased
from 0.5 to 2 bar) was used on cylindrical specimens of 20 mm diameter and 20
mm length with a longitudinal fiber orientation (Figure 8).


Figure 8 Schematic illustration of the gas permeability measurement device used in the present study.
The measurements were performed on conditioned specimens under constant
climate of 20C/65% relative humidity (RH). The specimens were laterally
sealed with a silicon sealant, then placed in an elastic rubber tube and fixed with
hose clamps to ensure a gas tight fitting into the measurement device. Flow rate
was determined at constant differential gas pressure. The coefficient for gas
permeability was then calculated according to Equation 1 (Siau 1984; Thoemen
and Klueppel 2008) and presented in Darcy (1 Darcy = 9.8697*10
-13
m
2
).

(Equation 1)
where K = permeability (m
2
), = dynamic gas viscosity of air (Pa s), Q = volumetric flow rate (m
3
s
-1
), L =
specimen length in flow direction (m), P1 = pressure behind specimen (bar), A = specimen area perpendicu-
lar to flow direction (m
2
), P = pressure difference in flow direction (bar) and P = average pressure meas-
ured before and behind the sample (bar)
Longitudinal gas permeability was slightly increased after 3 weeks incubation,
compared to the control specimens (Figure 9). After 5 weeks incubation, per-
meability showed a significant increase and after 7 weeks incubation, gas per-
meability tripled to 0.16 Darcy. The highest increase was recorded after 9 weeks,
where the gas permeability was almost two-fold (0.35 Darcy) compared with the
values recorded after 7 weeks.
P P A
P L Q
K
1


Figure 9 Gas permeability of Norway spruce heartwood after 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks incubation with Physispo-
rinus vitreus. (*) = significant difference in comparison to control (p< 0.05).
The method of direct gas permeability measurements revealed consistent results
which recorded the fungus-wood-interaction over an incubation period of up to
9 weeks. Several studies discuss the gas permeability improvement induced by
microorganisms (Johnson 1979; Kobayashi 1998; Nijdam et al. 2001; Bradic and
Avramidis 2007; Reinprecht and Pnek 2008). It has been reported that positive
effects of microorganisms could be observed in sapwood regions with enhanced
gas permeability, which has been contributed to the degradation of bordered
pits. But for heartwood, no or only negligible effects were described. Thus, P. vi-
treus appears to be a promising fungus for the permeability improvement even
in the heartwood of Norway spruce.
As demonstrated in the gas permeability measurements, the variability of results
was high, especially with longer incubation times. Fungal activity increased the
material heterogeneity. The statistical relevance of some data is therefore li-
mited. This reflects the difficulty to reliably analyze fungal activity in the wood
substrate. Heterogeneous distribution of hyphae and localized areas of enzymat-
ic activity in the wood require a vast amount of observations to obtain statistical-
ly valid results.
6.2 TREATMENT WITH SURFACE MODIFICATION SUBSTANCES
The bioincised wood was treated with substances for hydrophobation, UV-
protection, surface hardness and fire resistance. The substances (except hot
melting wax for surface hardness) were waterborne systems and were applied
either by brushing, dipping (30 min) or vacuum impregnation (20 min, 7 mBar).
Considering that these wood modification systems require specific penetration
depths for optimal performance, I discussed the capability of bioincising to en-


hance permeability at the required penetration depths in Paper II. It is consi-
dered that UV-light radiation penetrates the wood surface down to depths of
75 m and visible light reaches depths of 200 m (Jirous-Rajkovic et al. 2004;
Rowell 2005). If weathering effects such as humidity and temperature changes
are considered, the maximum depth of photodegradation is approximately
750 to 900 m. Therefore, the deposition of UV-protective substances into the
surface layer (50 to 100 m, see also Figure 1) and subsurface area
(100 to 1000 m) is supposed to be sufficient for an efficient protection against
photodegradation. However, according to the BeerLambert law
2
, the best UV-
protection of wood surfaces is achieved with film-forming coating systems.
Hydrophobation substances
Tests with hydrophobation substances, whose results for uptake and penetration
depth are presented in Paper I, showed that a positive effect of bioincising for the
substance uptake and penetration depth is only apparent for the vacuum im-
pregnation. When application was conducted by brushing or dipping, substance
uptake as well as penetration depth remained at a negligible level. Thus, the
permeability improvement by bioincising is apparently not so efficient that im-
pregnation could be replaced by less sophisticated methods, e.g. by dipping.
On the basis of these preliminary findings, the subsequent tests for substance up-
take and penetration depth were conducted exclusively with vacuum impreg-
nated samples. Figure 10 displays the results from a study where three commer-
cial hydrophobation substances on basis of organofunctional silanes were im-
pregnated into bioincised sapwood and heartwood samples of Norway spruce.

2
BeerLambert law: quantitative relationship between the absorbance of radiant energy, the
concentration of the sample solution, and the length of the path through the sample (Atkins
2000).


Figure 10 Hydrophobation substance uptake of Norway spruce sapwood (SW) and heartwood (HW) after 3,
5, 7, and 9 weeks incubation with Physisporinus vitreus. Application: vacuum impregnation (20 min, 7
mBar). (*) = significant difference to control (p< 0.05).
The effect of bioincising is clearly discernable in both, sapwood and heartwood
samples, where after 7 weeks incubation a significant uptake improvement was
recorded compared to control specimens. After 9 weeks, penetration depth was
increased from average 80 m (Control) to average 250 m (Figure 11). Variabil-
ity was high for both uptake and penetration depths.

Control 9 weeks
Figure 11 Transverse sections of Norway spruce heartwood after incubation with Physisporinus vitreus and
subsequent impregnation with hydrophobation substances. The substances were stained with fluorescence
dye Rhodamin prior to application. Scale bars = 60 m.


Surface hardness substances
The bioincised wood heartwood specimens of Norway spruce (incubation time 6
weeks) were impregnated with different substances for surface hardness im-
provement. Following substances were chosen due to their surface hardness im-
proving effect:
Methylated melamine-formaldehyde
10% aqueous solution, 1% triethanoleamine (pH-stabilizer)
Methylated melamine-formaldehyde can be impregnated in monomeric
form into the cell wall structure to reduce hygroscopicity and to improve
dimension stability. Besides, a positive effect on surface hardness is rec-
orded (Miroy et al. 1995; Gindl and Gupta 2002; Deka et al. 2007)
1.3-dimethylol-4.5-dihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU)
1.3molar, 1.5% MgCl
2
as catalyst
DMDHEU is a cyclic N-methylol compound, currently used in industrial
chemical wood modification (Belmadur
) to improve wood properties

such a dimension stability and durability, but also with positive effects on
surface hardness (Yasuda et al. 1994; Xie et al. 2007; Dieste et al. 2008).
Hot melting wax
Montan wax: Licowax E Flakes
(Clariant, Basel, Switzerland)

Hot melting waxes are esters of fatty acids with higher alcohols usually
used as water repellents due to their hydrophobic properties, but also
with effects on surface hardness (Scholz et al. 2010a)
The uptake (here presented in weight percent gain, WPG) of all three substances
was significantly increased in comparison to the control specimens (Figure 12).
According to microscopic studies, penetration depth in the bioincised specimens
varied between 250 m and 1 mm. Besides substance intrusion through the bor-
dered pits of the tracheids, the wood rays played a significant role for substance
distribution in the wood. The special role of wood rays during wood impregna-
tion was also described and critically discussed by many authors (Liese and
Bauch 1967b; Bailey and Preston 1969; Keith and Chauret 1988; Olsson et al.
2001) and is subject of review in Paper II. However, like in all other studies for
uptake and penetration depths, a strong variability of measurement data was
recorded due to the heterogeneous colonization of P. vitreus into the substrate.


Figure 12 Weight percent gain (WPG) of different surface hardness modification substances into heartwood
of Norway spruce after six weeks of bioincising and vacuum impregnation. (*) = significant difference be-
tween bioincised specimen and control (p< 0.05).
6.3 WOOD PROPERTIES AFTER BIOINCISING AND SURFACE MODIFICATION
The combination of bioincising and subsequent modification is supposed to re-
sult in significantly improved material properties. Otherwise, the fungal pre-
treatment is useless and can be disregarded from an economic perspective.
6.3.1 HYDROPHOBATION
Even though the uptake of hydrophobation substances in the bioincised wood
was increased, no effect could be recorded for hydrophobation. After 2 weeks of
exposure to water saturated air, none of the applied hydrophobation substances
reduced the water vapor uptake, independently from previous substance uptake.
However, it is a well known fact that treatment with organofunctional silanes has
no influence on the water vapor uptake into the wood as long as these sub-
stances do not covalently bond to the hydroxyl groups of the cell wall constitu-
ents (Donath et al. 2006; Mai et al. 2007).
Liquid water uptake was influenced negatively by bioincising. The increased up-
take of hydrophobation substance did not show any positive effect. By contrast,
an increased liquid water uptake was recorded already after 4 hours in submer-
sion test. This is due to the enhanced permeability, induced by bioincising. Ob-
viously, the hydrophobation effect of the substance was counteracted by a better
susceptibility of the wood to liquid water. This could be expected, since the main
goal of bioincising is the permeability improvement for waterborne substances.
6.3.2 SURFACE HARDNESS
Brinell hardness was reduced by bioincising (incubation time 6 weeks) as shown
in Figure 13. A treatment with DMDHEU and methylated Melamine-
formaldehyde slightly compensated this reduction and is in accordance with re-
sults from previous works (Yasuda and Minato 1994; Gindl and Gupta 2002; Di-


este et al. 2008). But still an overall reduction of surface hardness was measured.
Solely, the impregnation with a hot melting wax significantly improved the Bri-
nell hardness of bioincised wood as also described by Scholz et al. (2010a).

Figure 13 Brinell hardness of bioincised wood (six weeks of incubation) after impregnation with different
substances for surface hardness improvement. (*) = significant difference between bioincised specimen and
control (p< 0.05).
These differences can be explained by the mode of function of the applied sub-
stances:
Modification by melamine-formaldehyde treatment is targeted to modify the cell
wall structure itself. Rapp et al. (1999) proved that melamine-formaldehyde had
diffused into all layers of the treated wood cell walls. Melamine-formaldehyde
resins are characterized by a variety of advantageous properties, such as high
hardness and stiffness, and are capable of forming hydrogen bonds (Hagstrand
1999). Hence, embedding in the cell wall layers and adherence/chemical reac-
tion to cell wall components will result in hardness improvement (Deka et al.
2007).
The mode of action of DMDHEU is cross-linking with wood compounds and its
self-polycondensation within the cell wall. Impregnation causes permanent bulk-
ing of the cell wall and thus reduces subsequent dimensional changes of the
wood (Militz et al. 2010). Likewise to melamine-formaldehyde, the resulting
hardness improvement is due to its activity within the cell wall.
In contrast to melamine-formaldehyde and DMDHEU, the mode of action for
waxes is different. Scholz et al. (2010a) did not measure any swelling of the cell
wall after wood impregnation with hot melting waxes. Wax molecules obviously
do not infiltrate the wood cell wall during treatment. Moreover, there is no affini-
ty between the hydrophobic wax and the hydrophilic hydroxyl groups of the cell
wall constituents. Although the aliphatic chains in paraffin have a certain free-


dom of movement, an infiltration within intermicellar void spaces in the cell wall
is not possible (Scholz et al. 2010b) and the wax is exclusively deposited in the
cell lumina (Figure 14).

DMDHEU Melamine-formaldehyde Hot melting wax
Figure 14 Cross sections of Norway spruce heartwood after six weeks incubation with Physisporinus vitreus
and subsequent impregnation with surface hardness improving substances. The substances were stained
with fluorescence dye Rhodamin prior to application. Scale bars = 100 m.
The hardness enhancing effect of the wax is thus based on the higher uptake. A
higher amount of lumina in the tracheids is filled out with wax and in conse-
quence, Brinell hardness is increased. Mechanical forces are rather supported by
the wax than by the cell wall structure. Hence, the reduced mechanical integrity
of the cell wall does not significantly influence surface hardness anymore and is
compensated by the wax infiltration.
In contrast, cell wall active substances like melamine-formaldehyde and
DMDHEU cannot balance the cell wall degradation induced by P. vitreus activity
and thus result in an overall lower Brinell hardness.
6.3.3 FIRE RESISTANCE
While surface fire retardant coatings lose their efficiency when the protection
layer has been physically destroyed, deep impregnation systems continue to con-
trol charring rate and flame formation over an extended period of severe fire im-
pact. Similarly to wood preservatives, their effect depends strongly on a deep
and homogenous penetration of the fire retardants into the wood.
The results of a study on fire resistance are presented in Paper I. Fire-retardant
salt solutions were applied by vacuum impregnation. Bioincising of Norway
spruce wood for 6 weeks caused a significantly enhanced substance uptake. But
likewise to above presented results, the bioincising process showed a negative
overall effect for the improvement of fire resistance. The bioincised specimens
showed higher mass losses after 3 minutes of flame exposition than the control
samples. Obviously, fungal activity has not only degraded the bordered pits but
also negatively affected the secondary cell wall of the tracheids (as also shown by
microscopic analysis). The higher permeability possibly promoted a faster dis-
tribution of the hot combustion gases through the wood cells.


6.4 INCUBATION METHOD
The presented results demonstrate the potential of bioincising for permeability
improvement of refractory wood species. An improvement of substance uptake
and a deeper substance penetration into the subsurface area and border zone is
possible. However, the incubation process must further be improved to
1. obtain a more homogenous substrate colonization by P. vitreus,
2. reduce incubation times,
3. improve the selectivity of P. vitreus towards an exclusive degradation of
pit membranes.
Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) and Schwarze et al. (2008) conducted the in-
cubations of P. vitreus on vermiculite that provides a wide C/N-ratio of 400/1,
similar to the C/N-ratio of Norway spruce. The incubation during our experi-
ments was done on MEA in order to promote a rapid and homogenous coloniza-
tion of the wood substrate by P. vitreus. This nutrient medium provides a narrow
C/N-ratio of about 50/1, meaning that relatively more nitrogen is available than
on vermiculite. Since nitrogen is commonly the limiting parameter for a fast fun-
gal growth (Cowling and Merrill 1966; Levi and Cowling 1969; Kirk and Yang
1979), relatively high growth rates could be triggered on MEA. But the present
studies provide evidence that incubation of wood specimens on MEA results in
sub-optimal conditions for a selective delignification or a selective pit membrane
degradation (see also Dill and Kraepelin (1988), Rios and Eyzaguirre (1992)).
During the incubation process used in this thesis, the one-sided exposition of the
specimens to the nutrient medium caused a heterogeneous moisture distribution
in the substrate. The WMC and with it the water activity, a
w
, at the bottom side of
the specimens were much higher than at the three other faces. Moreover, the
moisture content in the whole system was probably too low. Schubert et al.
(2009; 2010) found that water activity a
w
and temperature have a highly signifi-
cant influence on the growth rate (see also section 3.3.1). To get a short lag phase
and high growth rate, the wood moisture content should be adjusted to at least
the fiber saturation point and superficial drying of the wood should be avoided
by setting low air flow around the wood. It is therefore recommended to develop
a closed incubation system that allows a sensitive moisture control, e.g. by se-
quential water spraying.
Considering these aspects and combining them with the information from C/N-
ratio, it can be assumed that P. vitreus was subjected to certain stresses during
wood colonization in my experiments. In consequence P. vitreus deployed an en-
zymatic activity which resulted in the presence of several decay patterns and a
reduced selectivity towards pit membrane degradation.


The enzymatic processes behind this heterogeneous decay pattern have not yet
been fully understood. Until now, no complete essay about the enzyme produc-
tion of P. vitreus has been published. However, it appears that P. vitreus produces
a particular laccase system. This laccase with a mass of about 53 kiloDalton
(kDa) is closer to a bacterial laccase (40 to 60 kDa) than to a fungal laccase (60-
80 kDa). Moreover, P. vitreus apparently excretes little or no amounts of man-
ganperoxidase (MP), ligninperoxidase (LP) and polygalacturonase (PG) (Schu-
bert 2010; personal communication). Supposedly because of this specific enzyme
composition, P. vitreus is a relatively weak lignolytic fungus that
1. causes only small mass losses during incipient period of substrate coloni-
zation and
2. potentially shows a higher selectivity towards pit membrane degradation
than other white rot fungi.
On basis of the presented findings, a new incubation system was recently devel-
oped (Schwarze 2010; personal communication). This pilot installation allows a
more accurate control of the mentioned parameters and is currently been tested.
Preliminary results show that substrate colonization occurs more rapidly and
more homogenously. Further investigations will have to show whether fungal se-
lectivity and the homogeneity of permeability improvement are also enhanced.

Conclusions and Outlook 25

7 CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
Bioincising is an interesting biotechnological approach for the surface pretreat-
ment of refractory wood species. The white rot fungus P. vitreus can be used to
significantly improve the permeability of sapwood and heartwood of Norway
spruce. Mass loss and adverse effects on mechanical properties are relatively low
in comparison to other wood decay fungi. The wood surface is more susceptible
for subsequent impregnation with modification substances that are able to pene-
trate deeper in to the subsurface layers.
Even though the installation of a new pilot incubation system by the mycologists
from Empa St. Gallen is a valuable step ahead in further optimization of the incu-
bation process, the bioincising process itself is still far away from industrial ap-
plication:
For construction purposes, big volumes of cheap standard products are re-
quired. Suitable bioreactors with sufficient capacity, sensitive process
control and sterile working conditions first must be developed in order to
enable an economic and efficient incubation process.
Processing time allows bioincising only of wood surfaces. Under optimal
growth conditions for P. vitreus, incubation times between 2 and 4 weeks
seem to be feasible. However, within this relatively short period a pene-
tration of the fungus through larger wood profiles as used in e.g. con-
struction timber is hardly possible. Thus, the effect of permeability im-
provement is rather limited to the subsurface area and border zone of the
pretreated wood.
Process control is difficult and requires detailed biotechnological know-
ledge. The larger the dimensions of the incubated specimens are, the more
difficult is a homogenous colonization and permeability improvement.
Moreover, the risk of contamination by antagonistic microorganisms in-
creases in larger scaled process.
Natural variability of water activity a
w
in the treated wood. In freshly sawn
timber, WMC is lower in heartwood than in sapwood. This would proba-
bly require conditioning of the wood previous to incubation in order to
provide optimal moisture conditions for fungal growth.
Until now, no feasible large scale application has been identified. Higher up-
take and deeper penetration was proven for a range of different modifica-
tion substances. A specific property improvement, however, could exclu-
sively be reported for a hot melting wax that was impregnated in order in
increase the surface hardness.

26 Conclusions and Outlook

Economic aspects of the bioincising process have not been regarded so far.
The combination of bioincising and subsequent surface treatment must
induce such a property improvement that the market is willing to pay the
additional costs which are generated by the bioincising process (Figure
15).

Figure 15 Possible matters of expense for the production of bioincised wood.
Thus, according to the current state of knowledge, an application of the bioincis-
ing process for specialized niche products is maybe the most probable approach.
Products with smaller dimensions, lower quantities and higher value creation
appear to be a feasible pathway for the closer future of bioincising. Currently,
P. vitreus is already been successfully applied to Norway spruce wood to improve
the acoustic properties of the tonewood used for music instruments such as vio-
lins (Schwarze et al. 2008; Spycher et al. 2008).
1 m
3
bioincised
wood
Capital
commitment
Inventory costs
Production
area
Investment
costs
Maintenance
Energy (oil,
gas, biomass)
Labor
Water
Incoculum
Mycel removal

References 27

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List of figures 31

9 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Schematic of different zones of the wood surface used to describe liquid
penetration in radial and tangential directions (Paper II). ............................................................. 2
Figure 2 Bordered pits act as interconnecting voids between adjacent tracheids. After
aspiration, the torus restricts the flow of fluids (Paper II). ............................................................. 4
Figure 3 Representative growth curve of a wood decay fungus ................................................... 6
Figure 4 Major fields of research during optimization and upscaling of the bioincising
process. ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 5 Above: Schematic illustration of incubation setup (Paper V). .................................. 11
Figure 6 Transverse sections of Norway spruce wood after 9 weeks incubation with
Physisporinus vitreus (Paper III). ............................................................................................................. 13
Figure 7 Intensity of Physisporinus vitreus activity on bordered pits, half bordered pits
and tracheid cell wall after different incubation times (Paper III). .......................................... 13
Figure 8 Schematic illustration of the gas permeability measurement device used in the
present study. .................................................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 9 Gas permeability of Norway spruce heartwood after 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks
incubation with Physisporinus vitreus. .................................................................................................. 16
Figure 10 Hydrophobation substance uptake of Norway spruce sapwood (SW) and
heartwood (HW) after 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks incubation with Physisporinus vitreus. .......... 18
Figure 11 Transverse sections of Norway spruce heartwood after incubation with
Physisporinus vitreus and subsequent impregnation with hydrophobation substances. 18
Figure 12 Weight percent gain (WPG) of different surface hardness modification
substances into heartwood of Norway spruce after six weeks of bioincising and vacuum
impregnation. .................................................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 13 Brinell hardness of bioincised wood (six weeks of incubation) after
impregnation with different substances for surface hardness improvement. ..................... 21
Figure 14 Cross sections of Norway spruce heartwood after six weeks incubation with
Physisporinus vitreus and subsequent impregnation with surface hardness improving
substances. ........................................................................................................................................................ 22
Figure 15 Possible matters of expense for the production of bioincised wood. .................. 26

32 List of tables

10 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Wood preservation and wood modification treatments according to the required
penetration depth of the applied substance (extracted from Paper II). .................................... 2
Table 2 Work packages and analytical methods that were applied .......................................... 12

Annex

11 ANNEX

Paper I

Bioincised wood as substrate for surface modifications.

Paper II

A review on promising approaches for liquid permeability im-
provement in softwoods.

Paper III

Anatomy of bioincised Norway spruce wood.

Paper IV

Resistance of bioincised wood treated with wood preservatives to
blue-stain and wood-decay fungi.

Paper V

Part 1: Aspects of delignification and surface hardness.

Paper VI

Part 2: Aspects of microtensile strength and chemical changes

Annex

Paper I

European Conference on Wood Modification 2009
Bioincised wood as substrate for surface modifications
Christian Lehringer
1
, Martin Arnold
1
, Klaus Richter
1
, Mark Schubert
1
,
Francis W.M.R. Schwarze
1
, Holger Militz
2

1
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Wood Laboratory,
Dbendorf/St. Gallen, Switzerland [email: [email protected]]
2
Georg-August University Gttingen, Wood Biology and Wood Products, Germany
[email: [email protected]]
Keywords: Bioincising, Norway spruce, Penetration depth, Permeability, Uptake
ABSTRACT
The aspiration of bordered pits during drying of wood is the most important reason for a
limited impregnability of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). Incubation of this
wood species with the white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus for a period of 6 weeks
(Bioincising) improves significantly the subsequent uptake of liquid modification
substances. There is evidence that the enhanced permeability is caused by a selective
degradation of bordered pit membranes during the initial period of substrate
colonization. It is suggested that the bioincised material can be impregnated more
efficiently with surface modification substances. For a successful upscaling to industrial
application, a uniform colonization of the substrate and controlled fungal activity must
be achieved to ensure a homogenous distribution of wood modification substances. The
present paper identifies the influence of Bioincising on the uptake of liquid modification
substances. As example, preliminary results from flame resistance tests are presented
that showed a negative effect of Bioincising on the target property. A better
understanding of fungus growth in wood and the optimization of the Bioincising process
is needed to improve the treatability of Norway spruce with surface modification
substances.
INTRODUCTION
The limited impregnability of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is mainly caused
by the aspiration of bordered pits during wood drying. The bordered pits represent the
interconnecting pathways for liquids between adjacent tracheids. To reopen the wood
structure for a subsequent treatment with wood preservatives or wood modification
substances, various incising techniques have been developed (Hansmann et al. 2002).
Earlier work based on biotechnological concepts such as fungi pre-treatment (Messner
et al. 2003) or technical enzymes (Militz 1990) showed a positive effect on
impregnability of spruce sapwood. Despite first promising results, transfer to industrial
application was not achieved. Moreover, the effect on spruce heartwood was
comparably low.
In contrast, the inoculation of coniferous wood with the white rot fungus Physisporinus
vitreus induces a selective degradation of bordered pits in sapwood and heartwood
during early stages of colonization. As a consequence, incubation of Norway spruce
heartwood with P. vitreus for a period of 6 weeks resulted in a significant enhanced
uptake of water, while impact bending strength was reduced only negligibly (Schwarze
et al. 2006). Hence, the so called Bioincising process could be a promising approach to
improve the uptake of preservatives and wood modification substances into the
heartwood of refractory species, such as Norway spruce.
Biotechnological parameters
Based on promising findings from previous laboratory investigations (Schwarze et al.
2006), an industry cooperation project was launched with the objective of scaling up the
Bioincising process to industrial scale. For this purpose, detailed knowledge about the
biotechnological parameters and their sensitive control during incubation determine the
optimization of the inoculation with P. vitreus. In this context, Schubert et al. (2008)
conducted a parameter analysis using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and
found a strong influence of substrate humidity (water activity a
w
) on the growth of P.
vitreus. Moreover, the study showed that P. vitreus is highly susceptible to
contaminations during the initial growth phase of substrate colonization. This has a
negative influence on the homogeneity of colonization. To reduce the contamination
rate the incubation of wood in bioreactors after sterilisation is currently being evaluated.
Anyhow, for industrial applications a feasible and cost efficient technology has to be
developed.
Surface modification on bioincised wood
In addition to the investigation of the biotechnological principles, the biologically
modified wood is presently being characterized as a substrate and possible applications
for surface modification on this new material are evaluated. Depending on the target
property to be improved, certain penetration depths and a high uniformity of treatment
have to be achieved.
In the present paper, the influence of Bioincising on subsequent substance uptake and
average penetration depth is discussed. Additionally, on base of preliminary flame
resistance tests the interaction between the bioincised wood and wood surface
modification substances is presented.
EVALUATION OF THE BIOINCISED MATERIAL
Material and methods
Wood samples (30 x 40 x 15 mm, length x width x height) of Norway spruce (Picea
abies) were incubated for 6 weeks and then (as well as control samples) treated with a
range of wood modification substances to improve hydrophobicity and fire resistance.
The aqueous substances were applied to the material by brushing, dipping (30 minutes)
and vacuum impregnation (20 min, 7 mBar). Five hydrophobisation agents and three
flame retardants were used, all of them commercial products. To avoid major capillary
uptake, the endgrain surfaces were sealed with a polyurethane coating prior to treatment.
All substances were stained with fluorescence dye Rhodamin for microscopic analysis.
The total substance uptake of the samples was measured gravimetrically directly after
treatment. For a better comparability of the results, the uptake data were recalculated to
kg/m. For the evaluation of the penetration depth, the samples were cut in transverse
sections that then were planed with a microtome knife. Fluorescence photographs were
taken at 2.5x magnification under a microscope.
Fire resistance was measured by exposing the treated samples horizontally to a propane
flame for 3 min. After removing the char, mass loss was determined gravimetrically.

Results for uptake and penetration of hydrophobisation substance
After brushing and dipping no or little effect of Bioincising on the uptake was observed,
whereas a significantly higher retention was apparent when the samples were
impregnated in a vacuum chamber (Figure 1). The bioincised material revealed a much
higher variance.

Figure 1: Liquid substance uptake and average penetration depth in bioincised material
Brushed and dipped samples showed a substance penetration into the sub-surface of
only two or three cell rows (40-60 m). In contrast, impregnation resulted in a deeper
penetration, which was even more pronounced in bioincised wood (Figure 2). Local
distribution and penetration depth of the applied substances varied strongly for all
application methods, especially for the bioincised samples.

Figure 2: Microscopic photographs of impregnated samples (commercial hydrophobisation substance)

Results for flame resistance of bioincised and fire protected wood
Preliminary tests for flame resistance revealed that a higher uptake of substances in
bioincised wood did not automatically result in an improvement of wood surface
properties (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Mass loss during 3 min burning test of fire protected wood
The uptake of flame retardants by the bioincised material was significantly improved for
dipping and impregnation. But despite of that fact, a significantly higher mass loss was
measured for all treated, bioincised samples. Anyhow, comparison with the untreated
controls showed significantly, that the flame retardant performed well. Most probably
the Bioincising process affected the cell wall structure in a manner that promotes
flammability. Possible reasons could be a change in the chemical composition of the cell
wall by P. vitreus and hence a reduction of density and a delignification of the inner
secondary wall. Another hypothesis is that the reopened bordered pits promote the faster
distribution of hot gases within the cellular system. Further work is in progress to reveal
the exact reasons.
CONCLUSIONS
Bioincising of Norway spruce wood for 6 weeks resulted in an enhanced uptake of
liquid substances after vacuum impregnation. The selective degradation of bordered pits
by Physisporinus vitreus activity is regarded as reason for this effect. Due to the
heterogeneous colonization of the substrate, substance uptake and penetration depths
varied strongly.
Preliminary tests on bioincised wood showed a negative effect for a subsequent
modification of selected properties, such as flame resistance. Most probably, fungus
activity has not only degraded the bordered pits but also delignified the inner secondary
wall. These possible negative effects of fungal degradation on the cell wall will be
subject of future work. Furthermore the ingress of the wood modification substances
through cellular system is currently being elucidated.
The optimization of the Bioincising process is still in progress; therefore, the present
results are indicative. A profound understanding of wood-fungus-interactions on wood
permeability will help to optimize the treatment of the bioincised wood with surface
modification substances.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors like to express their gratitude for the support by the partners of the research
project Bioincising of softwoods with Physisporinus vitreus. Financial support by the
Swiss Confederations innovation promotion agency (CTI) is gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Hansmann, C., Gindl, W., Wimmer, R. and Teischinger, A. (2002). Permeability of
wood - A review. Drevarsky Vyskum/Wood Research 47(4): 1-16.
Messner, K., Bruce, A. and Bongers, H. P. M. (2003). Treatability of refractory wood
species after fungal pre-treatment. Proceedings of the European Conference on Wood
Modification 2003: 389-401.
Militz, H. (1990). Die Verbesserung der Imprgnierbarkeit von Fichtenholz mittels
enzymatischer und chemischer Vorbehandlung. Dissertation, Landbouwuniversiteit
Wageningen, Netherlands: 220.
Schubert M., Dengler V., Mourad S. and. Schwarze, F.W.M.R. (2009) Determination of
optimal growth parameters for the bioincising fungus Physisporinus vitreus by means of
response surface methodology. Journal of Applied Microbiology, In Press
Schwarze, F. W. M. R., Landmesser, H., Zgraggen, B. and Heeb, M. (2006).
Permeability changes in heartwood of Picea abies and Abies alba induced by incubation
with Physisporinus vitreus. Holzforschung 60(4): 450-454.

Annex

Paper II

A REVIEW ON PROMISING APPROACHES FOR LIQUID
PERMEABILITY IMPROVEMENT IN SOFTWOODS
Christian Lehringer*
PhD Student
Klaus Richter{
Head of Wood Laboratory
Francis W. M. R. Schwarze
Senior Scientist
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research
Dubendorf/St. Gallen, Switzerland
Holger Militz
Head of Department
Institute for Wood Biology and Wood Products
Georg-August-University
Gottingen, Germany
(Received April 2009)
Abstract. The low liquid permeability of refractory wood species such as Norway spruce [Picea abies
(L.) Karst.] and white Fir (Abies alba) is related mainly to the aspiration of bordered pits during wood
drying. The resulting low permeability complicates treatments with liquid preservatives or wood modifi-
cation substances. This article provides a literature review on various mechanical and biotechnological
approaches that were developed for improving liquid permeability. In this context, we focus on the
incubation of Norway spruce wood with a white rot fungus, Physisporinus vitreus (Pers.) P. Karst. The
process is termed bioincising and results in a significant increase in wood permeability. This is most
probably caused by the selective degradation of bordered pit membranes and simple pits of xylem ray
parenchyma during the initial period of wood colonization. Subsequently, we discuss how bioincising
could be a potential pretreatment method for wood preservation and selected wood modification sub-
stances. Considering that these wood modification systems require specific penetration depths for opti-
mal performance, we discuss the capability of bioincising to enhance permeability at the required
penetration depths. In this regard, we propose a terminology for better differentiation of penetration
depths by liquid substances into the wood.
Keywords: Bioincising, impregnation, penetration depth, permeability improvement, wood modification.
INTRODUCTION
Permeability represents a material property that
is of specific importance for different technical
processes in the wood industry. Not only for
preservative impregnation, but also for pulping
and wood drying, the permeability of wood to
gases and liquids influences the design of indus-
trial wood processing procedures. Furthermore,
the application of substances to enhance select-
ed wood properties such as hardness, UV stabil-
ity, water and vapor repellency, dimensional
stability, and fire resistance requires a move-
ment of liquids into the wood to different depth
levels.
Permeability determines the flow of liquid or
gaseous phases through a solid medium. Siau
(1984) defines permeability as a measure of the
ease with which fluids are transported through a
* Corresponding author: [email protected]
{ SWST member
Wood and Fiber Science, 41(4), 2009, pp. 373385
# 2009 by the Society of Wood Science and Technology
porous solid under the influence of a pressure
gradient. The pore size and distribution, but even
more so, the degree of pore interconnectivity
(tortuosity), influences the material permeability.
In softwoods, bordered pits act as intercon-
necting pathways between adjacent tracheids.
During wood drying, a large number of the bor-
dered pits are aspirated. This occurs as a result
of pressure differences between the tracheids.
Hence, the liquid permeability of, for example,
Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] is re-
duced to 1 5% of that of green wood (Messner
et al 2003). Although this so-called pit aspira-
tion is an efficient response of the living tree to
counteract embolism in the water-conducting
sapwood, it presents an undesirable obstacle for
treatment of the wood with liquid substances.
To overcome the problem, ample research on
transport processes, pit aspiration mechanisms,
and permeability improvement on Norway
spruce has been conducted (Liese and Bauch
1967; Petty 1970; Palin and Petty 1981; Flynn
1995; Hansmann et al 2002). Besides numerous
mechanical incising and drilling techniques for
reopening the wood structure for subsequent
impregnation, several biotechnological app-
roaches have been developed on the basis of
bacterial, enzymatic, or fungal activity (Militz
1993b; Nijdam et al 2001; Messner et al 2003;
Reinprecht and Panek 2008). One of the latest
approaches is the incubation of Norway spruce
with the white-rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus
(Pers.) P. Karst over a period of approximately
6 wk (Schwarze et al 2006). During its initial
period of colonization, this fungus apparently
selectively degrades the pit membranes. The
permeability is significantly improved without
severe strength losses by bioincising.
In this article, we give an overview of the mech-
anisms that lead to a reduction of permeability in
softwoods. Fundamentals of flow in porous me-
dia like wood are briefly discussed before we
present different techniques for the improve-
ment of wood permeability. The bioincising pro-
cess is then outlined as a potential technique to
improve the permeability to specific depths of
the wood substrate. Regarding this differentia-
tion, we suggest that certain wood modification
systems require specific penetration depths. For
example, substances for UV and visible light
protection have to penetrate only the subsurface
area, whereas substances for dimension stability
have to penetrate the wood at much deeper
levels for positive effects. When adapted to
these specific requirements, bioincising can be a
potential technique to customize the depth of
penetration for the target property, which can be
improved by the subsequent treatment. There-
fore, bioincising is discussed in the context of
permeability improvement to specific levels of
depth and selected wood modification techni-
ques. To provide an understanding for discus-
sion, we further suggest terminology for the
precise differentiation of penetration depths in
the wood.
PERMEABILITY OF SOFTWOODS
Role of Pits for Fluid Transport in Wood
In the xylem of living softwoods, fluid transport
occurs primarily in the longitudinal direction
through the axially oriented tracheid lumina that
are interconnected with fields of bordered pits in
their tapered end walls (Hacke et al 2004). Dur-
ing preservative treatment or drying of wood,
the same pathways are used for fluid transport
in longitudinal and transverse directions. In
these directions, flow paths are controlled by
the bordered pits, whereas the horizontally
aligned rays constitute the main pathways for
flow in the radial direction during impregnation
(Wardrop and Davies 1961; Liese and Bauch
1967; Comstock and Cote 1968; Comstock
1970; Richter and Sell 1992; Matsumura 1999;
Usta and Hale 2006). Flow in the tangential and
radial directions is much less than in the longitu-
dinal direction (Lihra et al 2000; Usta and Hale
2004; Tarmian and Perre 2009). The spreading
of fluids from xylem ray elements to longitudi-
nal tracheids (and vice versa) is still under dis-
cussion (Olsson et al 2001). Characteristics of
the cross-field pits and the structure of ray tissue
vary greatly among softwood species; hence, the
transverse permeability depends on the number
374 WOOD AND FIBER SCIENCE, OCTOBER 2009, V. 41(4)
and size of ray parenchyma and ray tracheids.
Simple pits between the ray parenchyma cells
restrict fluid transport because the pit mem-
branes can only be penetrated by diffusion or
through plasmodesmata (Fujikawa and Ishida
1975). Moreover, deposited extractives are be-
lieved to reduce permeability of ray parenchyma
cells (Olsson et al 2001). Some authors have
shown that the transport in ray parenchyma is
important (Wardrop and Davies 1961; Keith
and Chauret 1988), whereas others state the con-
trary (Bailey and Preston 1969). The ray trac-
heids on the outermost position of the ray tissue
have been found to act as important transport
paths during impregnation (Liese and Bauch
1967; Olsson et al 2001). Similarly as between
longitudinal tracheids, fluid transport in ray trac-
heids occurs through bordered pits.
The bordered pits of the longitudinal tracheids
substantially determine the permeability of a
softwood species. In reaction to different pres-
sure levels in adjacent tracheids during the dry-
ing of wood, the pit is aspirated with the margo
and torus attached to the inner wall of the pit
opening (Fig 1). Aspiration is considered irre-
versible because of the formation of hydrogen
bonds between the torus/margo and the pit
opening. These forces are seldom overcome by
high pressures during processing (Liese and
Bauch 1967; Thomas and Kringstad 1971).
Permeability is reduced not only during drying
process, but also during heartwood formation in
the living tree. Inorganic constituents and ligno
complex substances incrust the cell walls and
the torus and margo of bordered pits. Conse-
quently, MC in the heartwood of the living tree
is reduced, resulting in some level of pit aspira-
tion. Furthermore, depositions of hydrophobic
organic wood extractives occlude the pit mem-
branes (Comstock 1965; Bamber and Fukazawa
1985; Mantanis and Young 1997).
After drying wood, the latewood regions com-
monly have a higher permeability than the ear-
lywood (Kininmonth 1971; Siau 1995). Pits in
latewood have thicker strands, a tighter margo
texture, smaller diameters, a higher degree of
lignifications, and denser configuration of the
pit chamber, resulting in a higher stiffness. Fur-
thermore, because of the thicker cell walls in
latewood, the torus must move a greater dis-
tance to aspirate. As a consequence, the neces-
sary forces for deflection and adhesion need to
be greater, and fewer pits in the latewood are
aspirated during drying. Although dry latewood
contains fewer and smaller pits, it is more per-
meable than seasoned earlywood in which the
pits tend to aspirate faster during drying. In the
green conditions, this relation is reversed, in
which the larger pits in earlywood are not aspi-
rated and permit a higher bulk flow (Liese
and Bauch 1967; Erickson 1970; Flynn 1995;
Hansmann et al 2002).
Resin canals and intercellular spaces also play a
certain role in softwood impregnation, because
fluids penetrate the void spaces and then enter
the adjacent tracheids (Koran 1989). Although
Figure 1. Bordered pits act as interconnecting voids between adjacent tracheids. After aspiration, the torus restricts fluid flow.
Lehringer et alLIQUID PERMEABILITY IMPROVEMENT IN SOFTWOODS 375
pit interaction is not directly involved, we men-
tion these pathways at this point to complete the
description of fluid movement through soft-
woods.
Flow Through Porous Media
According to Siau (1984), the transport of fluids
can be separated into bulk flow and diffusion.
Although bulk flow through interconnected cell
lumina is vital for impregnation of wood with
liquid preservatives, the diffusion processes are
more important for kiln drying of wood. Bulk
flow is mainly determined by permeability,
which itself is related to the porosity of a system
and the size and quantity of openings that inter-
connect the single pores (tortuosity).
The description of viscous liquid transport
through wood is commonly defined by Darcys
law, which states a direct dependency of the
media to a pressure gradient:
k
Flux
Gradient

Q=A
P=L

QL
AP
1
where k = permeability (m
4
/Ns), Q = volumet-
ric flow rate (m
3
/s), L = length of specimen in
the flow direction (m), A = cross-sectional area
of specimen perpendicular to the flow direction
(m
2
), and DP = pressure differential (Pa).
Wood anisotropy, interaction between fluid and
substrate, pit aspiration, plugging of pits and pores
with bubbles or particles, turbulent flow, occur-
rence of molecular slip effects, or fluid com-
pressibility require an adaptation of Eq 1 for a
realistic determination of wood permeability. Sev-
eral works present an overview on determining
permeability of wood (Resch and Ecklund 1964;
Banks 1981; Siau 1984; Hansmann et al 2002).
TECHNIQUES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIQUID
PERMEABILITY
Mechanical Opening of the Wood Structure
Incising of refractory wood species such as
Norway spruce is a well-established technique
to mechanically open the wood structure for
subsequent impregnation or drying (Keith and
Chauret 1988; Richter 1989; Morris et al 1994).
Different perforation systems using needles,
drills, slit discs, lasers, and water jets have been
reported (Richter 1989). However, visible marks
on the wood surface and strength losses are
considered to be disadvantageous for certain
wood products. Microwave treatments have also
been attempted (Terziev 2002; Li et al 2005;
Merenda and Holan 2008). In this technique,
the induced destruction of bordered pits facili-
tated the penetration of liquids, but the mechan-
ical properties were presumably negatively
altered. In North America, mechanical incising
technologies are widely used for the pretreat-
ment of sawn wood, whereas in Europe, they
are mostly limited to the airsoil zone treatment
of poles.
Reversing Pit Aspiration
The irreversibility of bordered pit aspiration is
considered to be caused by strong forces in-
duced by hydrogen bonding between the
margo/torus and the adjacent cell wall (Thomas
and Kringstad 1971). Fujii et al (1997) and
Matsumura (1999) described the positive effect
of steam treatment or hot water extraction on
gas permeability, in which the hydrogen bond-
ing in the aspirated pits may have been reduced.
Exchanging the moisture in green wood with a
less polar or nonpolar solvent before drying
(solvent-exchange drying) reduces the degree
of pit aspiration (Hayashi et al 1966; Siau
1984; Hansmann et al 2002). Bao et al (2001)
showed that a low level of aspirated pits in the
sapwood results when wood goes from green to
a dry state by ethanol-exchange drying. In gen-
eral, deaspiration is promoted when the solvent
has lower swelling characteristics than water
and/or when it lacks the ability to form hydro-
gen bonds. Fluids conducive to this process
typically contain benzene or pentane.
Biological Treatments
The controlled use of microbial decomposition
is a biotechnological method that can be used
for wood modification [see Mai et al (2004) for
a review]. Biological concepts that enhance the
permeability of softwoods have been developed
using enzymes, bacteria, and fungi.
Bacteria. Bacterial activity is considered to
be the main cause of improvement in softwood
permeability during ponding (storing logs in
water over a long period) (Adolf et al 1972;
Unligil 1972; Kobayashi 1998; Nijdam et al
2001). Wood exposed to bacterial degradation
showed lower pectin contents, pit membranes
were destroyed, and substances encrusting the
cell lumina and pit chambers were partly re-
moved. However, the necessity for prolonged
treatment and inhomogeneous variations of per-
meability has ruled out further commercial use.
Enzymes. The improvement of softwood per-
meability by means of enzymes was investi-
gated by Nicholas and Thomas (1968) and
Militz (1993a, 1993b), among others. The activ-
ity of pectinases, cellulases, and hemicellulases
resulted in the partial degradation of pit mem-
branes. The permeability of Norway spruce
heartwood and sapwood was improved with a
mixture of different enzymes. However, similar
to bacterial treatment, several weeks of incuba-
tion were required to obtain an enhanced perme-
ability, and localized differences in enzyme
activity led to inconsistent results. The introduc-
tion of bacteria and enzymes into dried wood is
difficult because the aspirated pits counteract
rapid and uniform ingress of microbial suspen-
sions. Moreover, the processes are difficult to
control and scaling up to industrial application
has been unsuccessful.
Fungi. In contrast to isolated enzymes, hy-
phae of white rot fungi are able to transport
their specific enzymes deep into the wood sub-
strate during colonization. The hyphae largely
follow the nutrient-rich parenchyma cells and
rays and grow from there into the adjacent tra-
cheids primarily through simple or bordered pits
or even by creating bore holes in the cell walls.
During the first period of substrate colonization,
the excreted enzymes alter the chemical struc-
ture of the pit membranes and contribute to their
selective degradation with almost no negative
effect on the strength properties of the wood
matrix (Messner et al 2003). Investigations on
Norway spruce infected with strains of Tricho-
derma, Dichomitus, and Phanerochaete resulted
in an enhanced permeability of the sapwood,
whereas the effect on the heartwood remained
negligible (Rosner et al 1998). In contrast, incu-
bation of Norway spruce and white fir for 6 wk
with a white rot fungi (Physisporinus vitreus)
revealed significant permeability improvement
in both sapwood and heartwood (Schwarze
et al 2006). At the same time, impact bending
strength was reduced negligibly. The process
was subsequently patented (Schwarze 2006)
and termed bioincising. In the following sec-
tion, we focus on the bioincising process and
discuss its potential for permeability improve-
ment in refractory species.
THE BIOINCISING PROCESS
The studies of Schwarze et al (2006) revealed
an enhanced liquid uptake of 200 400% for
bioincised heartwood of Norway spruce and Fir.
As illustrated in micrographs by the authors,
membranes in bordered pits of the tracheids
and in simple pits of the ray parenchyma cells
were most likely selectively degraded by the
enzymatic activity of P. vitreus during the first
period of substrate colonization. Schwarze et al
(2006) suggested the excretion of polygalactur-
onase and oxalic acid by P. vitreus during incip-
ient wood decay as promoting factors for the
hydrolysis of the pectin-rich bordered pit mem-
branes.
P. vitreus is known to have high tolerance to
very wet conditions and has been isolated from
wood in cooling towers. Considering this as-
pect, the selective degradation of pit membranes
during the first period of substrate colonization
has been interpreted as a strategy of P. vitreus
to indirectly influence the MC of the wood
(Schmidt et al 1997; Schwarze and Landmesser
2000). The biodegradation of pit membranes
results in an increase of wood MC and favors
an efficient and rapid distribution of hyphae
in the substrate. Once the pit membranes are
removed and a high MC is established, the dis-
tribution of lignolytic enzymes is facilitated. In
a second period, degradation of the cell wall
matrix occurs and weight and strength losses
have been recorded. Therefore, fungal activity
during the bioincising process must be restricted
to the first period of substrate colonization to
avoid severe damage to the wood matrix and
exclusively limit changes to those that increase
the permeability for gases and preservatives.
Schwarze et al (2006) conducted their investiga-
tion on specimens of relatively small dimensions
[100 10 15 mm and 100 25 15 mm
(l t r)]. When incubation with P. vitreus was
repeated with larger specimens of Norway
spruce, fungus activity turned out to be hetero-
geneous across the substrate (Fig 2). The sam-
ples (500 50 50 mm) were obtained from an
entire trunk to provide a comprehensible visual
impression of differences between sapwood and
heartwood. Radial or tangential grain orientation
could of course not always be maintained.
Checking of the bioincised specimens occurred
during drying at 105
C.
Impregnation of the bioincised samples with
stained water revealed that permeability was
preferentially improved in sapwood. Also, fun-
gal activity could be documented in heartwood,
but the permeability improvement occurred in
local regions and activity was rather hetero-
geneous.
Obviously, a range of biotechnological parame-
ters still has to be optimized to enable homoge-
nous and rapid colonization of the sapwood and
heartwood with P. vitreus. Schubert et al (2009)
showed in their study that the water activity
and temperature have a strong influence for
rapid mycelial growth during early stages of
the bioincising process. Moreover, the studies
showed that P. vitreus is susceptible to micro-
bial contaminants, particularly for Trichoderma
species during the lag phase. This also can have
a negative impact on the homogeneity of colo-
nization.
Currently, a number of investigations are under-
way to assess bioincising. First, we are evaluat-
ing material properties such as permeability,
strength, and chemical composition of the bio-
incised wood. Second, we study the behavior of
liquid substances during substrate penetration
into the bioincised wood according to anatomi-
cal orientation. Finally, we try to estimate the
effect of bioincising on the targeted properties
for improvement after a subsequent application
of wood modification substances. For this pur-
pose, tests with respect to selected properties
such as hydrophobicity, UV stability, surface
hardness, or flame retardancy have been con-
ducted. Because the results from the mentioned
investigations will be the subject of further pub-
lications, only one example from preliminary
tests will be presented in the following section.
Preliminary Tests
To evaluate the overall performance of the
bioincised wood for subsequent treatment with
property-improving substances, we conducted
preliminary tests for flammability (Lehringer
et al 2009). Wood samples (30 40 15 mm;
l t r) of Norway spruce were incubated with
P. vitreus for 6 wk and then treated with three
commercial wood modification substances. The
substances were applied to the material by
brushing, dipping (30 min), and vacuum impreg-
nation (20 min, 7 kPa). To avoid major capillary
uptake, the endgrain surfaces were presealed
with a polyurethane coating. The substance
Figure 2. Liquid uptake of Norway spruce (left) and after
6 weeks of bioincising (right) demonstrated by vacuum
impregnation (20 min, 0.7 mbar) with stained water. Note
checking of the bioincised samples resulted from drying at
105
C (photographs from test series for Schwarze et al

2006).
uptake of the wood modification agents was
gravimetrically measured for the three applica-
tion methods. Flammability was measured by
exposing the treated samples horizontally to a
propane flame for 3 min. After removing the
char, mass loss was determined gravimetrically.
For brushing and dipping, little or no effect of
bioincising on the uptake was observed, where-
as a clear improvement of penetrability was ap-
parent when the agents were impregnated in a
vacuum chamber. Despite an improved uptake
of modification substances after impregnation,
we found a negative effect of bioincising on
the target properties (Lehringer et al 2009). The
bioincised samples lost more mass than the con-
trol samples. Apparently, the cell wall structure
was affected by the fungal activity that promot-
ed the mass loss.
To reduce this type of side effect from P. vitreus
and to bring the bioincising process in the area
of technical application, future work must focus
on optimizing the bioincising method.
In the past, wild-type strains of P. vitreus
with dikaryotic mycelia have been used for the
bioincising process. Each dikaryotic cell of
P. vitreus, a tetrapolar heterokaryon, contains
two nonidentical nuclei derived from the fusion
of two different, sexually compatible primary
mycelia, each bearing a single nucleus per cell.
The dikaryotic mycelia of most P. vitreus iso-
lates become pigmented in culture, producing
brown exudates and darkening some softwoods
during colonization. In addition, dikaryons in
general have faster growth rates than monokar-
yons of the same species. These factors suggest
that the use of a monokaryon of P. vitreus may
be preferable to a dikaryon for the development
of a biological bioincising system. Monokar-
yons show a reduced tendency to produce dark
pigments in culture and cause less discoloration
(Addleman and Archibald 1993). Additionally,
because of the reduced growth rates, it may
have reduced numbers of isozymes of secreted
enzymes such as laccase and manganese peroxi-
dase and consequently may have the potential to
degrade bordered pit membranes more selec-
tively. It is expected that monokaryons can en-
hance wood permeability more effectively than
the dikaryons presently used. Moreover, they
would provide a much simpler genetic and
biochemical system for the elucidation of the
bioincising mechanisms because they are more
easily genetically modified.
BIOINCISING AS POTENTIAL PRETREATMENT FOR
WOOD MODIFICATION
Customized Permeability Improvement
Although certain tasks are obviously still ahead,
at this point, we would like to give an outlook of
possible technical applications for bioincising.
On the basis of the aspects presented, we con-
sider bioincising to be a promising approach for
controlled improvement of permeability to dif-
ferent depths of the wood substrate. Depending
on the control of process parameters (temp-
erature, nutrient and oxygen supply, substrate
humidity, pH, duration of incubation) and an
improved selectivity of P. vitreus, wood perme-
ability improvement could be customized for
subsequent treatment with specific wood modi-
fication substances. For example, a treatment
for dimension stability requires much deeper
penetration into the wood than a treatment for
UV protection substances (which are discussed
in more detail). Thus, certain penetration depths
have to be achieved to ensure 1) an efficient
distribution of the modification substance and
2) reaching an optimal effect for the targeted
property improvement.
Definition of Penetration Depth
Before we discuss the application of bioincising
as pretreatment for subsequent wood modifica-
tion, it is necessary to define the terminology
concerning the penetration depth of liquid sub-
stances into the wood surface. Unfortunately,
definitions in the literature are imprecise. They
do not differentiate between the surface of the
material and the zones beneath it. Because of
the relatively rough and porous structure of
the wood surface, its treatment with liquid
substances typically includes several cell rows
in close proximity to the surface area because
the substances fill the lumina of truncated cells.
As mentioned previously, penetration depth
strongly depends on grain orientation. In prac-
tice, however, primarily tangential and/or radial
surfaces are exposed to liquid substances. Nor-
mally, long pieces of wood are treated, in which
those that are primarily transverse sections are
comparably small and play a subordinate role
for the penetration of liquids into the wood.
Considering this aspect, we suggest three differ-
ent depth zone terms for the radial and tangen-
tial orientations.
The term surface layer will refer to the zone
that extends over approximately 3 4 cell rows
or a depth of approximately 50 100 mm. The
zone beyond these first cell rows cannot be
regarded as a direct surface and shall be
termed sub-surface area. During brushing or
dipping, liquid substances often locally pene-
trate into this zonefor example, through the
ray tracheids and ray parenchymawhich ex-
tend to a depth of approximately 100 900 mm.
For impregnation treatment, higher penetration
depths are desired. To define this zone, we
propose a third border zone, which describes
the penetration of a wider region to a depth of
several millimeters or more. The differentia-
tion of these terms and penetration depths for
radial and tangential orientation is illustrated
in Fig 3.
Potential Applications for Bioincising
Regarding the proposed terms, in the following,
we present selected target applications, in which
bioincising could be considered as a pretreat-
ment. Table 1 gives an overview of these appli-
cations, including the target of improvement
and the required individual penetration depth in
the tangential and radial orientations.
Preservative treatment. Treatment of wood
with preservatives for protection against wood-
destroying microorganisms is regulated or de-
scribed by national standards (DIN 1990; CSA
1997; EN 2006; EN 2007; AWPA 2008). The
standards define a minimum penetration depth
for sapwood and/or heartwood depending on
the natural durability of the species, its specific
susceptibility to preservative treatment, and the
conditions in which the wood will be used (use
class). However, in practice, complete penetra-
tion cannot always be achieved either because
of reduced uptake by refractory wood species or
for reasons of economy. Commercial processes
for effective preservative treatments have been
developed. Most methods permit high penetra-
tion depths with homogenous distribution of the
Figure 3. Schema for the differentiation of the wood surface into several zones to obtain a better distinction and
description of liquid penetration in radial and tangential directions.
preservative but require expensive industrial
facilities and high energy input.
Among these methods, vacuum and pressure im-
pregnation techniques provide the best results.
Nevertheless, mechanical drilling or incising is
often required for refractory wood species.
Hence, the pretreatment of wood with the bioin-
cising technology could be an interesting alterna-
tive in this field to facilitate the impregnation
process, to gain higher loading rates, and to obtain
deeper penetration in refractory wood species.
Dimension stability. An improvement of the-
dimensional stability of wood is performed
by blocking, reducing, or crosslinking of hy-
droxyl groups (Hill 2006). For this purpose, a
wide range of substances and techniques has
been developed, eg furfurylation, acetylation,
dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea, (methylated)
melamine-formaldehyde, and thermal modifi-
cation. With the exception of thermal modifi-
cation, the techniques use liquid substances
that are impregnated. In untreated zones of the
wood, the targeted effects are often irregularly
realized, and local swelling and shrinking occur,
resulting in internal strains and irregular defor-
mation of the wood. Hence, the aim should be a
complete and homogenous penetration of liquid
modification substances in the required depth of
the wood material.
Fire retardance. Fire protection for wood ba-
sically follows two principal systems. On the
one hand, foam systems are mostly applied
as coatings on the exposed wood surfaces. Un-
der the influence of rising temperatures, these
systems undergo a sequence of film softening,
expansion, and setting of a rigid foam, which
ideally traps inert gases and develops good ad-
hesion to the surface. The temperature rise in
wood is reduced and the time to ignition is pro-
longed as well as the depth of charring. For this
type of treatment, no or only slight penetration
of the substance into the wood surface is neces-
sary. Consequently, these substances can be ap-
plied by brushing, dipping, or spraying.
On the other hand, fire-retardant salt solutions
are applied by impregnation deeper into the
wood. While surface coatings lose their effi-
ciency when the protection layer has been phys-
ically destroyed, deep impregnation systems
continue to control charring rate and flame for-
mation over an extended period of severe fire
impact. Similar to wood preservatives, the ef-
fect depends strongly on a deep and homoge-
nous penetration of the flame retardants into the
wood.
Although wood is a highly combustible mate-
rial, the low thermal conductivity and insulating
effect of the generated char provide the material
with good properties for exposure to fire. The
dimensional losses resulting from charring are
taken into consideration for the design of wood
elements in buildings to guarantee a certain
time of service under the impact of fire. In
Table 1. Wood preservation and wood modification treatments according to the required penetration depth of the applied
substance in tangential and radial orientation.
Targeted effect Desired penetration depth Recommended application method
Wood preservation Complete penetration or at least border zone
following certain standards (eg EN_335_1;
EN_351_2)
Impregnation
Dimension stability Complete penetration or at least border zone Impregnation
Flame resistance with foam-forming
systems
Surface layer and subsurface area Brushing, dipping
Flame resistance salt solutions Subsurface area to border zone Dipping, Impregnation
Hardness Subsurface area to border zone Dipping, Impregnation
UV protection Surface layer and subsurface area Brushing, dipping
Hydrophobation: liquid water Surface layer and subsurface area Brushing, dipping
Hydrophobation: water vapor Complete penetration or at least border zone Impregnation
contrast to wood protection or dimension stabil-
ity, complete penetration of wooden construc-
tion units with fire retardants may not be
required.
Hardness. For the improvement of surface
hardness, full penetration is apparently not
necessary. Gindl et al (2004) performed a
melamineformaldehyde (MF) resin treatment
of Norway spruce wood and found that a pen-
etration of 2 4 mm suffices for an optimal
increase in surface hardness. However, satis-
factory penetration was achieved only after a
3-da solvent-exchange immersion in liquid MF
solution for diffusion of the substance into the
wood cell walls. Vacuum treatment was not
useful because of pit aspiration. Because a
penetration of only a few millimeters is suffi-
cient for a significant improvement of hard-
ness, a full impregnation process does not
appear to be necessary. However, species with
a lower density will require a deeper penetra-
tion of hardness-improving substances than
species with a higher density.
UV and visible light protection. The depth of
light penetration into the wood surface and,
with it, the region of possible photodegradation
depends on the density of the specific wood
species and on wavelength of the light. Denser
wood is penetrated less by UV radiation. More-
over, light with shorter wavelengths penetrates
wood less deeply. For UV light, penetration
depths of 75 mm have been reported, whereas
visible light reaches depths of 200 mm (Rowell
2005). If the impact of weathering effects such
as humidity and temperature changes are con-
sidered, the maximum depth of photodegrada-
tion is approximately 750 900 mm. Therefore,
the application of UV-protection substances by
brushing or dipping into the surface layer and
subsurface area might be sufficient for efficient
protection against photodegradation.
Hydrophobation. The reduction of surface
wettability is a central issue in weathering sta-
bilization for wood in exterior uses. Hydropho-
bation of the surface can be performed by
treatment of the wood surface with paraffins,
waxes, oils, silane, siloxane, or silicone poly-
mers. Capillarity is reduced by blocking pene-
tration pathways such as tracheids, ray cells,
and pits. Such treatments result in an increase
in the contact angle for water (a change in
surface tension), inducing a phenomenon also
known as the Lotus effect (Donath et al 2006).
Unfortunately, these surface treatments do not
reduce the EMC, because no chemical modifi-
cation of the cell wall is achieved (Mai et al
2007).
As in the case of UV and visible light protec-
tion, the improvement of permeability in the
surface layer and subsurface area should be suf-
ficient to improve the placement and distribu-
tion of hydrophobation substances for liquid
water. The possible formation of cracks during
weathering and the resulting opening of the pro-
tected wood surface to liquid water might indi-
cate the need for deeper penetration.
Protection against water vapor and consequently
long-term changes in EMC are much more dif-
ficult if film-forming finishes are not applied.
As in the case of dimension stability, a full or
at least a border zone penetration with hydro-
phobation substances would then be necessary.
CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
In the present article, we briefly summarize ana-
tomical mechanisms responsible for the liquid
flow in softwoods and review techniques for an
improvement of permeability in refractory soft-
wood species. A recent approach is aimed at
a selective permeability improvement of Norway
spruce by means of fungal pretreatment (bioincis-
ing). By applying bioincising under controlled
conditions, liquid permeability of refractory
wood species might be improved at defined
depths. The examples given for current wood
property improvement technologies showed dif-
ferent requirements of substance penetration into
the wood at specific levels of depth.
Within the fields of application discussed,
bioincising could be a method to promote the
efficiency of the desired property improvement.
The adaptation of the new process to these
requirements would help to reduce the techno-
logical efforts for the subsequent treatment with
modification substances. However, at present,
the bioincising process is still in the process of
optimization and not yet adapted to industrial
applications. We are aware that an application
of bioincising at the industrial scale will not be
feasible until the biotechnological control of
fungal activity permits a homogenous and con-
trolled permeability improvement in the wood
substrate. Especially for heartwood, fungal ac-
tivity has to be intensified and more homoge-
neous. Undesired side effects of fungal growth
must be minimized and a feasible way for the
technical application developed.
The aspects presented demonstrate the potential
of bioincising, but do not yet represent the latest
state of development, because the optimization
of the bioincising process is still in progress.
Hence, additional work in this field must be car-
ried out. A better understanding of woodfungal
interactions and of the resulting effects of bioin-
cising on wood permeability will ultimately
help improve the treatability of refractory wood
species.
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Annex

Paper III

Anatomy of bioincised Norway spruce wood
Christian Lehringer
a,
*
, Konrad Hillebrand
a
, Klaus Richter
a
, Martin Arnold
a
,
Francis W.M.R. Schwarze
a
, Holger Militz
b
a
Empa e Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Wood Laboratory, berlandstrasse 129, Dbendorf CH-8600, Switzerland
b
Wood Biology and Wood Products, Georg-August-University Gttingen, Bsgenweg 4, D-037077 Gttingen, Germany
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 1 February 2010
Received in revised form
11 March 2010
Accepted 17 March 2010
Available online 6 May 2010
Keywords:
Bioincising
Degradation
Delignication
Pit membrane
Tracheid cell wall
Wood permeability
a b s t r a c t
Bioincising is a biotechnological method to enhance the permeability of refractory wood species such as
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) by incubation with the white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus.
Increase in wood permeability is supposedly induced by the selective degradation of pit membranes in
the bordered and half bordered pits, entailing only negligible changes in the tracheid cell wall. In order to
analyze the fungal activity on pit elements and the cell wall structure, we incubated sap- and heartwood
of Norway spruce for three, ve, seven and nine weeks with P. vitreus. After incubation and wood
sterilization we conducted a systematic microscopic study. We found that P. vitreus caused both
a selective delignication and a soft rot Type I and II in tracheid cell walls comprising a high hetero-
geneity during wood colonization. Moreover it was apparent that the degradation of pit membranes
occurred simultaneously with the formation of bore holes, cavities and notches in tracheid cell walls. The
activity of P. vitreus was higher in the sapwood, but a notable effect was also recorded in the heartwood.
The results indicate that the incubation conditions have to be further optimized to reduce the adverse
effects of fungal activity on the tracheid cell walls and achieve a more homogenous wood colonization.
The results of this study help to improve the bioincising process by understanding the growth charac-
teristics of P. vitreus and the woodefungus interaction during wood decay.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In softwoods such as Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst),
bordered pits constitute the pathways for uid transport between
adjacent tracheids. The occlusion of these valve-like elements is
called pit aspiration (Liese and Bauch, 1967). Pit aspiration occurs to
a large extent during wood drying and results in a lowpermeability
of the wood for uids such as preservatives or modication
substances. Generally it is desirable to achieve a deep and homog-
enous penetration of preservatives and modication substances
into the wood in order to protect the wood against fungi and insects
or to improve specic wood properties. Therefore, an increase in the
permeability of refractory wood species is of interest in many elds
of wood modication (Comstock, 1970; Erickson, 1970; Petty, 1970;
Flynn, 1995; Hansmann et al., 2002; Lehringer et al., 2009b). In the
past, permeability improvement has been attempted by the appli-
cation of enzymes, bacteria and blue stain fungi, but industrial
application was only reached seldom (Mai et al., 2004).
The biotechnological use of wood decay fungi for wood modi-
cation displays particular challenges for process control, but in
some cases the use of white rot fungi has gained industrial appli-
cation (Kirk and Yang, 1979; Mai et al., 2004). The so called bio-
incising process is a new biotechnological approach to improve the
permeability by a fungal pre-treatment of wood with the basidio-
mycete Physisporinus vitreus (Lehringer et al., 2009b; Schwarze and
Schubert, 2009). P. vitreus was initially isolated from wood in
cooling towers, comprising very humid growth conditions that are
rather atypical for basidiomycetes (Schmidt et al., 1996; van Acker
and Stevens, 1996). But it showed to be a typical white rot fungus
(Schmidt et al., 1997). Further studies with P. vitreus revealed
tendencies to a selective delignication and a preferential degra-
dation of pectin-rich pit membranes during initial stages of wood
colonization (Schmidt et al., 1997; Schwarze and Landmesser,
2000). Schwarze et al. (2006) demonstrated that the incubation
of refractory wood species such as Norway spruce and White r
(Abies alba Mill) with P. vitreus signicantly improved the uptake
and distribution of the synthetic organic textile dye Neolan Glaucin
E-A causing only limited strength losses. Additional studies on
bioincised wood by Lehringer et al. (2009a) indicated that chemical
and structural alterations of the specimens due to fungal decay
were apparent. Apparently, the fungal activity was not strictly
related with the preferential degradation of the pit membrane
but also with partial decomposition of the cell wall. In consequence
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 41 44 823 4078; fax: 41 44 823 4007.
E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Lehringer).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ i bi od
0964-8305/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2010.03.005
International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 64 (2010) 346e355
it was hypothesized that P. vitreus like other basidiomycetes might
switches from one decay pattern to another, causing also a soft rot
in secondary walls of tracheids (Daniel et al., 1992; Schwarze et al.,
1995; Schwarze, 2007).
According to Schmidt (2006) three types of fungal decay are
described: white rot, brown rot and soft rot. White rot is further sub-
divided into selective delignication and simultaneous rot.
Selective delignication means that lignin and hemicelluloses are
preferably metabolized, while the cellulose fraction of the cell wall
is either degraded or persists even at an advanced stage. Hyphae
grow on the S3 layer in the cell lumina of cells and secrete ecto-
enzymes that degrade lignin and hemicelluloses. This type of
degradation gradually advances through the secondary wall
towards the compound middle lamella. The thickness and the
visible structure of the cell wall remain mostly unaltered, but the
progressing delignication can be visualized by means of micro-
scopic staining. At later stages, cellulose becomes hydrolyzedas well
and the formation of cavities can occur (Schwarze and Engels, 1998).
Simultaneous rot is characterized by fungal ecto-enzymes which
have the capacity to degrade cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin at
the same time. Hyphae growin the cell lumina and penetrate the cell
walls via bore holes. Erosion troughs (notches) are formed under the
hyphae on the lumen side of the tracheid cell wall. In this way, cell
wall thickness is gradually reduced. In addition, hyphae and enzymes
can penetrate into the secondary wall and induce the formation of
cavities, resembling the decay pattern of brown and soft rot.
This above mentioned strict classication of decay types has
been discussed critically (Zabel and Morrell, 1992; Worrall et al.,
1997; Eaton, 2000; Schwarze and Baum, 2000; Schmidt, 2006)
and several works reported various decay patterns caused by one
fungus in the same substrate (Blanchette, 1984, 1991; Schwarze
et al., 1997; Anagnost, 1998; Ray et al., 2005).
In order to elucidate the woodefungus interactions between
Norway spruce and P. vitreus and to learn more about the specic
fungal growth characteristics, we incubated sap- and heartwood
with P. vitreus for three, ve, seven and nine weeks. Subsequently
we conducted a systematic anatomical study and statistically
described the effects of fungal activity in the substrate. We
compared the fungal impact on bordered pits and xylem ray
parenchyma pits with the degradation of the cell wall structure.
Furthermore, the aim of the study was to gain knowledge on fungal
growth through the wood cells during early stages of colonization.
Aspects of fungal selectivity and the different decay patterns were
included into the investigations. Since the woodefungus inter-
action is determined by various environmental parameters such as
nutrient and oxygen supply, moisture content and carbon/nitrogen-
ratio (Zabel and Morrell, 1992; Schmidt, 2006), the obtained results
are discussed in the light of the specic incubation conditions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Specimen material
We used defect free and kiln dried wood from a Norway spruce
(P. abies) tree, grown in Switzerland. For sap- and heartwood, we
prepared ten specimens respectively. Five specimens were taken in
one longitudinal sequence from a board in order to minimize the
inuence of natural variability. Since ve incubation times (control,
three, ve, seven and nine weeks) were tested, this axial pairing
provided a good comparability between the different incubation
times. Each specimen measured 200 30 30 mm (longitudinal
radial tangential). Radial and tangential orientation of growth
rings was always strictly maintained.
We sterilized the specimens with hot steam (103

C for 2 h) and
then inoculated themwith the white rot fungus P. vitreus Empa 642.
Incubation was performed under sterile conditions by immersing
the wood specimens in an emulsion of water, sawdust and fungal
mycelia. The incubated specimens were then incubated on 1% malt
agar and stored for three, ve, seven and nine weeks at 22

C and
70% relative air humidity (RH). Each specimen was placed with one
of its tangential surfaces on this nutrient medium in order promote
the fungal growth in radial direction. After incubation, the mycelia
were carefully removed from the surfaces and the specimens were
steam sterilized as described above to stop further fungal activity.
After drying for 48 h at 40

C., the specimens were reconditioned
and stored at 20

C and 65% RH.
2.2. Microscopy
From the central part of the bottom side of each specimen e the
face that was oriented towards the nutrient mediumewe removed
four blocks of 8 8 8 mm: two for light microscopy and two for
eld emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) (Fig. 1).
For light microscopy, transverse, radial and tangential sections
of 15e20 mm thickness were sectioned with a sliding microtome
(Reichert, Austria). We subsequently stained the sections with astra
blue (0.5%) and safranine (1%) for light microscopy investigations
and with acridine orange (0.01%) for uorescence investigations
under UV-light excitation (Aufsess et al., 1968; Gerlach, 1984;
Srebotnik and Messner, 1994). Specimens incubated for seven and
nine weeks had to be embedded with polyethylene glycol (PEG
1500) according to Bleicher (2008) in order to ensure high quality
specimens during sectioning.
For FE-SEM, the moist blocks were trimmed with razor blades
and then vacuum dried for 12 h at 40

C. After xation on brass
holders, the specimens were sputter coated with platinum with
a thickness of 8 nm and a sputter current of 40 mA in an argon
atmosphere (5 10
2
mbar) in a BAL-TEC Med 020 Sputter Coater
(BAL-TEC AG, Liechtenstein).
Visible light and uorescence microscopy investigations were
made with an Axioplan 50 microscope (Carl Zeiss AG, Germany) at
magnications of 40, 63 and 100. For the observations by trans-
mitted light no lters were used whereas for uorescence microscopy
the excitation lter BP 365/12 and the band-elimination lter LP
397 were applied. Image capture was performed with the digital
camera Leica DFC420(Leica Camera AG, Germany) andthecomputer
software Image Access
Version 7 (Imagic Bildverarbeitung AG,

Switzerland) served for further processing of the micrographs.
FE-SEM observations were carried out with a Jeol cold FE-SEM
6300F (Jeol LTD., Japan) with an acceleration voltage of 5 kV and
a working distance of 25 mm. Photographs were taken with the
computer software DIPS version 2.5 (Point electronic GmbH,
Germany) and transferred to Image Access
Version 7.
2.3. Assessment of fungal activity
Fungal activity in the wood specimens was assessed on the basis
of more than 1500 micrographs obtained with light microscopy.
About 100 FE-SEM images served as additional source of informa-
tion. We collected information on hyphal distribution in tracheids
and xylem ray cells, fungal degradation of bordered and half
bordered pits, bore holes, erosion patterns and cavity formation in
tracheid cell walls. For the systematic evaluation we dened three
categories
1
, according to the elements (1) bordered pits, (2) half
bordered pits in crosselds and (3) tracheid cell walls. The level of
fungal degradation in each of the three categories was classied
1
Throughout this article the term category will be linked to one of the three
mentioned elements.
C. Lehringer et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 64 (2010) 346e355 347
into intact, degraded and strongly degraded according to the
following criteria catalogue (Tables 1e3).
For category (1) and (2) we randomly selected twelve micro-
graphs in each radial section, six in early and latewood respectively.
Within these micrographs, we counted the overall amount of
bordered pits or half bordered pits and classied them according to
the intensity of fungal degradation.
For category (3) we overlaid a 5 6-eld-grid on the images of
radial sections. This was necessary, because the cell wall alterations
were present throughout the whole micrograph area. Each eld of
theoverlaidgridwas classiedandcountedaccordingtothe intensity
of fungal degradation on the tracheid cell wall in the specic area.
Also here, earlywood and latewood were differentiated (Fig. 1).
Since the data for all three categories were always collected
from one section of the same wood block, we derived the average
values from the six micrographs. On this level we then calculated
the percentage of degraded and strongly degraded features in rela-
tion to the total number of observed features.
The data were processed with the graph software Origin 6.1
(OriginLab Corporation, USA). After dening repeated measures for
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of specimen preparation, micrograph assignment and systematic evaluation.
Table 1
Classication of typical decay patterns in bordered pits of tracheids (radial longitudinal sections).
Intensity of
fungal activity
Description Light microscopic observations FE-SEM e observations
Intact
-Normal cell structure
-No fungal activity
Degraded
-Hyphal activity on pit structure
-Hyphae growing through pits
-Bore holes in pits
-Circular coloration/staining of
the outer margo
Strongly degraded
-Torus/pit membrane dislocated/dissolved
-Porus/pit aperture clearly enlarged
-Pit aperture frayed/tattered
each radial section, one way Anova and Tukey honesty tests were
conducted with the statistic software Systat12 (Systat Software Inc.,
USA). A probability value of p < 0.05 was considered to print to
signicant differences. The data showed a strongly asymmetric
structure, so that we transformed the data with Equation (1) in
order to increase the power of the signicance tests (Sachs, 1974).
However, for an understandable visualization in the plots we
referred to the original, non-transformed data.
T arcs in
x
100
r
(1)
where T transformed value, x original value.
2.4. Mass loss and moisture content
Since the specimens were subjected to further investigations
and were not altered by drying to 0% moisture content (MC), we
decided not to refer exactly to EN 113 for mass loss (DM) deter-
mination and to DIN-EN13183-1 for MC determination. Instead, we
measured the theoretical dry weight (Mt) of the conditioned
specimens at 20

C/65% RH before and after the incubation and
veried the MC on the basis of exemplarily oven-dried specimens
(u 11.8% 0.4). We applied Equation (2) and (3) according to
Schmidt (2006).
DM
M
0
M
1
M
1
*100 (2)
where DM mass loss (%), M
0
dry mass before incubation (kg),
M
1
dry mass after incubation (kg).
M
0

100$Mt
0
100 u
and M
1

100$Mt
1
100 u
(3)
where Mt
0
conditioned mass before incubation, Mt
1

conditioned mass after incubation, u wood moisture content at
20

C/65% RH.
Anagnost and Smith (1997b) reported that for white rot fungi no
changes in wood hygroscopicity must be expected and that conse-
quently conditioned specimens can be used without severe over- or
underestimation of moisture content. For each incubation period
ten specimens were used to determine the average mass loss.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Intensity and distribution of fungal activity
In the three categories, the intensity of P. vitreus activity was
moderate during the rst ve weeks of incubation (Fig. 2). Only
very few strongly degraded cells or pit structures were detected
Table 2
Classication of typical decay patterns in half bordered pits in crosselds (radial longitudinal sections).
Intensity of
fungal activity
Intact
-No degradation
Degraded
-Hyphal degradation of pit structure
-Circular staining of pit membranes,
also following the parenchyma cells
-Hyphae growing through pits
Strongly degraded
-Torus/pit membrane dislocated/degraded
-Porus/pit aperture clearly enlarged
(no longer piceoid in shape)
-Pit aperture frayed/tattered
-Advanced thinning of cell walls
around pits, pit border erosion
(0e0.6%) and the values for degraded elements ranged in average
between 6.9 and 9.0%. The vast majority of counts was classied as
intact (> 90%). After seven and nine weeks the rate of degraded
elements increased signicantly to values between 9.4 and 19.6%
for all three categories. Correspondingly, the rate of strongly
degraded elements in the categories bordered pits and half
bordered pits increased to an average level between 2.8 and 6.9%.
But surprisingly, in the category cell wall the amount of strongly
degraded cells remained at a low level (mean 0.4e1.1%).
Compared to other white rot fungi, P. vitreus thus showed
a reduced tendency to strongly degrade the tracheid cell walls at
longer incubation periods (Schwarze et al., 1997). However, the fact
that after seven and nine weeks the occurrence of strongly degraded
elements was rather associated with the bordered and half-
bordered pits indicates a possible advantage of this fungus for the
bioincising process.
3.1.1. Heart- and sapwood
Bordered pits, half bordered pits and cell walls were degraded in
both heart- and sapwood, but fungal activity was generally higher
in the sapwood. Statistically, no signicant differences were
apparent from bordered pits and cell wall elements, but half
bordered pits were degraded signicantly more often in the
sapwood (mean 13.9%) than in the heartwood (mean 9.3%).
Commonly, fungal activity in Norway spruce wood can be expected
to be higher in sapwood than in heartwood (Zabel and Morrell,
1992; Anagnost and Smith, 1997a; Wang et al., 1997). Our investi-
gations clearly conrm this fact. But we could also show that
P. vitreus is capable to develop a strong enzymatic activity in the
heartwood tissue. This conrms the ndings of Schwarze et al.
(2006) who described a signicant improvement of liquid uptake
by P. vitreus in Norway spruce heartwood.
Under the aspect of permeability improvement it is of major
interest to identify microorganisms that are able to develop their
enzymatic activity in this durable tissue of the stem. Messner et al.
(2003) and Reinprecht and Pnek (2008) described a permeability
improvement of softwoods by means of several fungi, among others
Trichoderma spp., which was however limited to the sapwood.
Additionally, Rosner et al. (1998) tested the basidiomycetes Dicho-
mitus squalens and Phanerochaete chrysosporium for the pre-treat-
ment of Norway spruce wood, also showing that the use of certain
basidiomycete-strains can result in an increase in permeability
within the heartwood. The results of our work conrm that P.
vitreus possess an afnity to colonize the heartwood even after
relatively short incubation periods.
3.1.2. Early- and latewood
The bordered pits localized in the earlywood were slightly
stronger degraded (mean 15.7%) than the ones in latewood (mean
12.8%). However, this tendency was not signicant. Likewise, no
Table 3
Classication of typical decay patterns in tracheid cell walls (radial and tangential longitudinal sections).
Intensity of
fungal activity
Intact
-No fungal activity
Degraded
-Hyphal activity
-Bore holes in cell wall
-Single erosion troughs
-Cell wall thinning
Strongly degraded
-Many and larger bore holes
-Cavities and hyphal t- or l-branching in
secondary walls (soft rot Type I)
-Advanced thinning of cell walls
-Cell wall erosion (soft rot Type II)/cell
separation
signicant differences were detected for fungal degradation of half
bordered pits and cell wall elements, but the latewood was stronger
affected than the earlywood regions.
Especially after seven to nine weeks of incubation, we found
that P. vitreus formed cavities and notches mainly in latewood
regions. The observed differences between early- and latewood
may be explained by latewood being less accessible to hyphae
due to the presence of fewer and smaller pits (Levin and Castro,
1998). This explanation is also true for Norway spruce wood
where P. vitreus might be forced to create own voids by
degrading the cell wall, since a higher density and only little
availability of natural openings exists. Moreover, the absolute
amount of degradable material is evidently higher in latewood
due to its thicker cell walls. Skyba et al. (2009) showed on
thermo-hygro-mechanically (THM) densied wood of Norway
spruce that Trametes versicolor and T. pubescens circumvented the
conditions that restricted hyphal growth by means of transverse
bore holes through the tracheid cell walls. Liese (1970) suggested
that the higher degree of lignication in early wood tracheids
may have a protective function against white rot fungi. Thus, the
latewood tracheids are decomposed faster and earlier than the
earlywood tracheids.
3.2. Degradation characteristics of Physisporinus vitreus
The reduced uorescence of acridine orange stained tissue
revealed a selective delignication that was induced by P. vitreus in
local areas of the wood. The characteristic delignication of the
secondary cell wall (S2) by the white rot fungi commenced from
the lumen towards the middle lamella (Fig. 3.1). But also a soft rot
Type I and II occurred locally and was discernable by the formation
of hyphal tunneling and cavities in the secondary walls (Fig. 3.2).
We did not detect a homogenous distribution of decay but rather
a clustered pattern of zones with lower and higher decay activity.
Material heterogeneity increased with increasing incubation time,
causing a higher data variability.
The presence of selective delignication and soft rot Type I and II
caused by the same fungus has also been described for several
Fig. 3. Transverse sections of Norway spruce wood after nine weeks incubation with Physiporinus vitreus. 1.: Selective delignication. 2.: Hyphal tunneling and soft rot in secondary
walls of tracheids. Incubation period: nine weeks. Sections stained with acridine orange and viewed with UV-excitation. Scale bars 10 mm.
Incubation time (weeks)
3 5 7 (*) 9 (*) 3 5 7 (*) 9 (*) 3 5 7 (*) 9 (*)
)
%
(

y
t
i
v
i
t
c
a

l
a
g
n
u
F
Bordered pits
degraded
strongly degraded
Half bordered pits Cell wall
10
15
20
25
30
35
5
0
Fig. 2. Intensity of Physisporinus vitreus activity on bordered pits, half bordered pits and tracheid cell wall after different incubation periods. The values of sapwood/heartwood and
earlywood/latewood were combined for more explicit illustration. The error bars reect the overall standard deviation. (*) signicant difference of the data from seven and nine
weeks compared to the data of three and ve weeks (n 1505).
white rot fungi by various authors (Schwarze et al., 1997; Anagnost,
1998; Ray et al., 2005). The different decay types occurred in close
proximity and in the same substrate. Hence, the fungi are capable of
switching between decay types depending on the prevailing
conditions in the wood (Zabel and Morrell, 1992; Schwarze and
Baum, 2000; Deorio, 2005). Eaton (2000) suggested that the
classication of wood decay types mentioned in the introduction
might be too rigid and does not reect the true complexity of the
natural situation.
The occurrence of cell wall alterations and the formation of
branched cavities that we detected in latewood regions of seven
and nine weeks incubated specimens is typical for soft rot Type I
(as also illustrated by Schwarze (2007)). The local switching from
white rot to soft rot-like decay patterns in the investigated material
seems to be possible against this background (Schwarze and Engels,
1998). Selectivity of lignin degradation is also variable over the
duration of the incubation. Thus, a fungus may be selective during
early stages of colonization, but the selectivity turns into a non-
selective decay with time, as observed with Ganoderma australe by
Ferraz et al. (2000).
On average, heartwood specimens revealed a slightly lower
mass loss after incubation with P. vitreus than sapwood specimens
(Fig. 4). However, after three and ve weeks incubation mass loss
ranged between 1.0 and 1.3%, indicating a relatively low fungal
activity. After seven weeks incubation sap- and heartwood showed
a signicant increase in mass loss to 2.4 and 2.1% respectively. After
nine weeks, we recorded the largest mass losses but heartwood
remained less affected than sapwood. Moreover after nine weeks
mass losses exceeded 4% only in single wood specimens. Anyhow,
at no incubation period signicant differences between sapwood
and heartwood mass loss were observed.
Commonly, tests with incubation periods of several months are
conducted to determine the decomposition potential of wood
decay fungi and mass losses of up to 60% are reported (Blanchette
et al., 1988; EN 113, 1996; Schmidt et al., 1996; Levin and Castro,
1998; Luna et al., 2004). In contrast, the mass losses recorded in
our investigations were considerably lower, since the incubation
periods were comparably short and exceeded the early decay stage
of P. vitreus only by several days or weeks. The early decay stage is
characterized (1) by fungal adaptation to the prevailing wood
conditions, (2) by hyphal growth mostly through xylem rays and
axial parenchyma degrading easy accessible carbohydrates and (3)
by a relatively low enzymatic activity which results in minor
degradation of the cell wall structure (Zabel and Morrell, 1992;
Schmidt, 2006). Hence, mass losses during the rst ve weeks
were below2%. After seven weeks fungal activity steadily increased
as apparently the initial period of substrate colonization had
commenced and the wood matrix constituents were degraded to
a signicantly larger extent.
Schwarze et al. (2006) reported insignicant mass losses below
1% after six weeks incubation of P. vitreus on Norway spruce. In the
same study, after twelve weeks the fungal activity had induced
a signicant 4% mass loss, conrming the tendency of our obtained
data. In contrast to these ndings, van Acker and Stevens (1996)
observed much higher degradation rates of P. vitreus, where mass
losses after 3 weeks of 5% or even 40% after 6 weeks were
measured. Low mass losses occurring together with a signicant
permeability improvement are a positive aspect of the bioincising
approach.
3.3. Physisporinus vitreus selectivity towards pit
membrane degradation
Hyphae were found in the xylem ray parenchyma and the
tracheid lumina growing to adjacent cells via pits. Hyphae grew
through pit apertures eroding and dislocating the margo and torus
and subsequently also enlarging the porus. In addition to pit
openings we also observed the formation of bore holes in the
tracheid cell walls with diameters of 1 and 5 mm even after three
weeks incubation (Fig. 5.1).
Advanced cell wall thinning and localized soft rot was apparent
in strongly degraded tracheids and xylem ray cells after seven and
nine weeks incubation. Here, cavities (soft rot Type I), erosion
notches (soft rot Type II) and hyphal tunneling developing in local
clusters of high fungal activity were predominantly apparent
within the latewood (Fig. 5.2 and 5.3). Hyphal tunneling was mostly
t-branched, since the hyphae formed branches in the secondary
walls growing perpendicular to the main growth direction.
In the observed material, bordered pits, half bordered pits and
tracheid cell walls were equally degraded by P. vitreus. After incu-
bation periods of three, ve and nine weeks no signicant differ-
ences were observed between the degradation of the pit structure
and cell walls (Fig. 6).
After three and ve weeks incubation, fungal activity averaged
between 6.3 and 9.1% for all three categories. Bordered pits
appeared to be slightly stronger affected than half bordered pits
and cell wall damages showed the lowest values at three weeks.
After three and ve weeks, on average up to 12% of the bordered
and up to 8% of the half bordered pits were affected by fungal
activity. After seven weeks incubation, half bordered pits were less
degraded than the other two elements, resulting in signicant
differences between the categories in this case (p < 0.05) but most
probably representing a random effect.
Between ve and seven weeks fungal activity increased and
resulted in an opening of bordered and half bordered pits at a mean
range of 13.1 and 21.0% while 18.6% of the cell walls were affected,
indicating a signicant inuence of the incubation time for all three
categories. This signicant and step wise increase of fungal activity
could be observed in several data sets, as will be also shown further
below. After nine weeks incubation no clear further increase of
fungal activity was observed as the values only increased slightly
(mean 19.0e21.6%).
Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) described the preferential
selective delignication of P. vitreus, which they observed on
naturally infected wood from cooling towers. No simultaneous cell
)
%
(

s
s
o
l

s
s
a
M
3 5 7 (*) 9 (*) 7 (*) 9 (*) 3 5
Sapwood Heartwood
Incubation time (weeks)
Fig. 4. Mass loss DM in sapwood and heartwood of Norway spruce after incubation
with Physisporinus vitreus. (*) signicant increase of mass loss compared to three and
ve weeks (n 100).
wall degradation but exclusively selective delignication was
reported. Also Schwarze et al. (2006) emphasized a preferential
degradation of pit membranes by P. vitreus at early stages of wood
colonization. The fungus was attributed to signicantly improve the
permeability of refractory wood species by selectively opening the
pit apertures in tracheids and ray parenchyma without causing
major strength losses to the incubated material. No major cell wall
degradation was observed or described in these studies since
extensive histological studies were not performed. But additional
microscopic studies on the same material revealed localized
regions with soft rot Type I and II, i.e. cavity formation and notches
in the cell wall (data not shown). These observations matched well
with our results since we could not conrm a high degree of
selectivity of P. vitreus towards the pit membranes.
3.4. Environmental conditions during incubation
At this point it is necessary to discuss the environmental
conditions during the incubation in order to better understand the
factors that possibly inuence the degradation characteristics of
P. vitreus. Dill and Kraepelin (1988) formulated the hypothesis
that selective delignication occurs best under conditions of
high humidity, low nitrogen content and low oxygen tension.
Interestingly, these are basically the growth conditions under
which P. vitreus was isolated by Schmidt et al. (1996), namely from
wet timber in water cooling towers.
Schubert et al. (2009) conducted detailed studies on inuencing
growth parameters for P. vitreus and found that besides nutrient
and oxygen supply, water activity and the pH play a signicant role
for substrate colonization. Preliminary experiments in liquid
conditions resulted in a homogenous and fast substrate coloniza-
tion of P. vitreus in Norway spruce (Schubert, 2009, oral commu-
nication). The fungus was grown in a temperated liquid solution
with sufcient oxygen and nutrient supply, with a narrow the
carbon/nitrogen-ratio (C/N-ratio) e comparable to a malt agar
nutrient medium e and the wood being immersed in the same
container from the beginning of the experiment. But also here,
P. vitreus did neither show an exclusive selective delignication
pattern nor a selective pit membrane degradation.
The incubation process in the work of Schwarze et al. (2006) was
conducted on a malt agar nutrient medium that had a narrow C/N-
Incubation time
Bordered pits
Half bordered pits
Cell wall
5 weeks 7 weeks (*) 9 weeks 3 weeks
Fig. 6. Activity of Physisporinus vitreus on bordered pits, half bordered pits and
tracheid cell wall after different incubation periods. The values of the levels degraded
and strongly degraded were combined for more explicit illustration. (*) signicant
difference between half bordered pits and bordered pits/cell wall after seven weeks
incubation (n 1505).
Fig. 5. Micrographs of Norway spruce wood after incubation with Physisporinus vitreus. 1.: Three weeks incubation, radial longitudinal section, light microscope, safranin-astrablue
staining, (a) hyphae growing through tracheid lumen, (b) degradation of bordered pits, (c) bore hole in tracheid cell wall. 2.: Nine weeks incubation, transversal section, light
microscope, safranin-astrablue staining. 3.: Nine weeks incubation, transversal section, SEM, (e) notches, (f) cavities and (g) hyphal tunneling in latewood tracheids. Scale
bars 10 mm.
ratio of 50/1 and that was similar to the one we used for our
incubation. These investigations suggest that the inuence of
nutrient supply and the C/N-ratio in the nutrient medium might
play an important role for the decay type developed by P. vitreus
during incubation.
Vermiculite instead, which was used in the incubation of
Schwarze and Landmesser (2000) and Schwarze et al. (2008), had
a wide C/N-ratio of 400/1 so that in that case the limiting nitrogen
supply probably triggered the fungus to predominantly cause
a selective delignication. No apparent cell wall damages were
reported. But it has to be mentioned that a low nitrogen concentra-
tion also limits the fast growth of fungal mycelia, as nitrogen is one
crucial component for hyphal cell wall formation (Wang et al., 1997).
Kirk et al. (1978) found that a high nitrogen concentration
(24 mM) reduced the selective lignin degradation rate by 25e30%
compared to a lower nitrogen concentration (2.4 mM). At the same
time, higher nitrogen concentrations and oxygen availability
seemed to stimulate the polysaccharide breakdown, as shown by
Dill and Kraepelin (1986) in their works on Ganoderma australis
palo podrido and by Levi and Cowling (1969) and Reid (1983),
working on P. chrysosporium. Also Rios and Eyzaguirre (1992)
reported on G. australis that it showed best results in selective
delignication at low nitrogen supply and low oxygen tension.
Considering the inuencing factors such as nutrient supply,
substrate moisture content and C/N-ratio we assume that P. vitreus
was subjected to certain stresses during wood colonization in our
experiments. In consequence P. vitreus deployed an enzymatic
activity which resulted in the presence of several decay patterns in
close proximity to another.
3.5. Comments on the systematic analysis
of woodefungi interactions
Light microscopy in combination with selected staining
methods showed to be an efcient and reproducible method for
the evaluation of a larger amount of anatomical features. A fast
specimen preparation and a quick micrograph capture made the
method to be rst choice for the assessment during our investi-
gations. In addition, FE-SEM provided valuable supplementary
information on the three-dimensional wood fungus interactions,
but did not allow a fast and efcient data capture.
The high standard deviations and the asymmetry of all
measurement data reect the difculty to reliably analyze fungal
activity in the wood substrate. Heterogeneous distribution of hyphae
and localized enzymatic activity in the wood require a vast amount
of microscopic observations to obtain statistically valid results.
One general problem for microscopic analysis is the individual
subjectivity of the assessing person. Therefore we dened
a detailed criteria catalogue in order to assure a high degree of
objectivity and reproducibility. The criteria catalogue served as
a classication guideline to estimate and classify the fungal activity
on the individual anatomical elements. But a certain range of
individual variability during data capture is naturally given by the
assessing person and must be considered when analyzing the data.
The presented data in this study are a result of a thorough evalu-
ation process and serve to identify consistent trends.
4. Conclusions
The improvement of the incubation process for bioincising is
still in progress. The decay patterns of P. vitreus and the inuencing
parameters that result in a selective degradation of the pit
membranes are not yet fully understood and require supplemen-
tary research. Incubation conditions must be further optimized to
stimulate a fast and homogenous colonization of wood and to
reduce the negative side effects on the tracheid cell wall. Only
a bioincising process with short incubation times, signicant
permeability improvements and negligible strength losses may
provide a perspective for industrial application.
Acknowledgements
We like to thank Prof. Dr. Fritz Schweingruber and Prof. Dr. Olaf
Schmidt for useful suggestions and comments during this study.
Moreover, the authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful advises
of Prof. emer. Dr. Hans-Rudolf Roth for the statistical analysis. The
present study emerged from the research project CTI.8593.1 LSPP-
LS Bioincising of conifer wood with Physisporinus vitreus to
improve its treatability for a range of wood preservation and
modication methods. The authors express their gratitude to the
Swiss CTI (Innovation Promotion Agency) for its nancial support.
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Annex

Paper IV

Resistance of bioincised wood treated with wood preservatives to blue-stain
and wood-decay fungi
M. Schubert
a,
*
, T. Volkmer
b
, C. Lehringer
c
, F.W.M.R. Schwarze
a
a
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Wood Laboratory, Group of Wood Protection and Biotechnology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5,
CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland
b
Berner Fachhochschule, Architektur, Holz und Bau, Solothurnstrasse 102, CH-2504 Biel, Switzerland
c
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Wood Laboratory, Group of Wood and Surface Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129,
CH-8600 Dbendorf, Switzerland
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 25 August 2010
Received in revised form
5 October 2010
Accepted 5 October 2010
Available online 27 October 2010
Keywords:
Bioincising
Blue-stain fungi
Wood-decay
a b s t r a c t
Bioincising is a biotechnological process that aims at the improvement of wood preservative uptake in
wood species with a low permeability, such as Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst). The process is based
on a short-term pre-treatment with white-rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus. During incubation the
membranes of bordered and half bordered pits are supposed to be degraded by fungal activity resulting
in a better treatability of the wood structure for wood preservatives. In the present study, rst of all the
resistance of bioincised Norway spruce heartwood and untreated controls against blue-stain and wood-
decay fungi (white- and brown-rot) was determined. Then, bioincised and untreated specimens were
dipped or vacuum impregnated with six wood preservatives and substance uptake was assessed
gravimetrically. Additionally, the penetration of 3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC) into the wood
was analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Finally, wood resistance was assessed
according to the European standards EN 152 and EN 113. Results showed no difference between bio-
incised wood without preservatives and the untreated wood against blue-stain discolouration. However,
a signicant (P < 0.05) increase in susceptibility against wood decay was recorded. In the bioincised
wood samples a signicantly higher uptake of all the different preservatives was determined and the
HPLC-method revealed that IPBC penetrated deeper into bioincised wood than into control samples. The
improved uptake of preservatives into bioincised wood resulted in a signicantly higher resistance
against white- and brown-rot fungi. However, only a slight protection against wood discolouration by
blue-stain fungi was recorded. The results of this study show for the rst time that the biotechnological
process with P. vitreus can be used to improve wood durability by increasing the uptake and penetration
of wood preservatives.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In coniferous heartwood nearly all the pit membranes (torus)
are aspirated into the bordered pits of tracheids after drying and,
additionally, the surface of the pit membranes in heartwood are
frequently covered with extractives (adcrustation) (Liese and
Bauch, 1967; Watanabe et al., 1998). Aspiration of the bordered
pits results in greatly reduced permeability of the wood and
therefore treatment with wood preservatives or modifying agents
that enhance the durability, re-resistance, UV-protection, hydro-
phobicity or hardness is impeded (Lehringer et al., 2009b). In the
past, improving the wood permeability has been attempted by the
application of enzymes, bacteria and several blue-stain and brown-
rot fungi (Green et al., 1995; Mai et al., 2004). The bioincising
process is a new biotechnological approach to improve the
permeability of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) heartwood
via pre-treatment with the white-rot fungus P. vitreus (Pers.: Fr.) P.
Karst. (Lehringer et al., 2009b; Schwarze and Schubert, 2009).
Based on ndings from previous laboratory investigations
(Schwarze and Landmesser, 2000; Schwarze et al., 2006), an
industry collaboration project was launched with the objective of
scaling up this process to an industrial scale (CTI No. 8593.1 LSPP).
For this purpose, a set of investigations was performed to identify
and detect important physical, chemical and biological parameters
that affect wood colonization by P. vitreus (Schubert et al., 2009,
2010b; Schubert and Schwarze, in press). In addition, the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 41 71 274 76 24.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Schubert).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ i bi od
0964-8305/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2010.10.003
International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 65 (2011) 108e115
woodefungus interaction between P. vitreus and Norway spruce
sapwood and heartwood was recently investigated in detail
(Lehringer et al., 2010).
Further aspects in the scaling up of bioincising is characterizing
the resistance of biologically modied wood, as well as evaluating
bioincised wood as an improved substrate for wood-modication
substances. Therefore, the objective of this study was to charac-
terize the resistance against blue-stain and wood-decay fungi of
bioincised Norway spruce heartwood and control samples that
were not treated with preservatives. Furthermore, the inuence of
bioincising on the uptake and average penetration depth of wood
preservatives (WP), as well as the interaction between the bio-
incised wood and these substances, was analyzed.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Fungal strains
The origins of the fungi used in the present study are provided in
Table 1. The cultures are maintained in the collections of Empa,
Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology,
Switzerland. For the present experiments, the initial inoculum was
taken from cultures growing on 2% malt extract agar medium
(Oxoid, Darmstadt, Germany) in Petri dishes stored at 4

C for no
longer than 6 months. All fungi were identied microscopically and
the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of the rDNAwas amplied and sequenced
for P. vitreus (EMBL, accession no. FM202494).
2.2. Bioincising of Norway spruce wood with P. vitreus
Heartwood specimens (110 40 15 mm, length width
height), free of defects, were extractedlongitudinally fromboards of
Norway spruce trees grown in Switzerland, in order to minimize the
inuence of natural variability. All specimens were conditioned at
20

C and 65% relative humidity (RH) until they reached an equi-
librium moisture content of approximately 12%. Prior to fungal
inoculationthe woodspecimens weresterilizedbyethylene oxide at
0.65 bar and 55

C for 1 h and desorbed at 55

C for 24 h. Subse-
quently, the wood specimens were inserted aseptically into Kolle
asks, according to EN113 (CEN1997), fully coveredby P. vitreus and
incubated in the dark for 6 weeks at 22 1
C and 75 5% RH. After

incubation, the mycelium was removed from the surface of the
wood specimens, which were dried at room temperature before
a denedpart of eachend-grainwas sectionedto nal dimensions of
65 40 15 mm. All specimens were subsequently conditioned in
a climate chamber (20
C and 65% RH). The control wood specimens

were incubated in Kolle asks, but without fungal inoculum.
2.3. Treatment with wood preservatives
Six WPs (ISP International Speciality Products AG, Germany)
were tested on bioincised and untreated Norway spruce heartwood
(Table 2).
The WPs were dissolved in water and adjusted to a nal
concentration of 50% (WP1-5) or 5% (WP6). Prior to chemical
treatment, the wood specimens were dried at 103

C for 24 h,
cooled in a desiccator and then weighed. In addition, the end-grain
of each specimen was sealed with soft silicone grease and rmly
xed between metal mounts to prevent the intrusion of WPs
through eventually occurring cracks and shakes. The WPs were
applied by dipping (30 min) or by vacuumimpregnation at reduced
pressure (40 mbar) for 20 min in a vacuum desiccator. The vessels
were then brought back to atmospheric pressure and the speci-
mens were left for further 120 min in the solution (European
Standard EN 113, 1997). The total substance uptake via tangential
and radial surfaces was then determined gravimetrically directly
after treatment and recalculated to kg m
3
according to EN 113.
2.4. Determination of IPBC concentration in wood
The uptake and penetration into the specimen surface of 3-iodo-
2-propynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC) were analyzed by high-pressure
liquid chromatography (HPLC) according to the method of Volkmer
et al. (2010). Chemical analysis was undertaken by HPLC reversed
phase mode and the gradient method, using a C18 column (high-
densied nucleosil). The eluent was a mixture of acetonitril and
water (60:40 vol. %), the injection volume was 20 mL and the ow
was 0.9 mL min
1
. The retention time for IPBC under these condi-
tions was 8.4 min. Detection was performed with a diode array
detector at 190 nm and a bandwidth of 8 nm. Calibration was
performed according to an industrial standard from ISP Germany.
To determine the penetration of IPBC, small blocks (25 30 mm)
were sectioned in transversal orientation with a microtome to
50 mm slices and combined into zones corresponding to 0e500 mm,
500e1000 mm, 1000e3000 mm, and 3000e5000 mm.
2.5. Biological tests
Susceptibility against blue-stain and wood-decay fungi (Table 1)
was determined for the untreated, bioincised heartwood according
to EN 152-2 (CEN 1988) and EN 113 (CEN 1997) and compared with
that of the untreated controls.
The interaction of the bioincised wood with the WPs and their
efcacy in protecting the wood was tested in the same way, but
with slight modication: A dened amount (N 144) of each wood
specimen that had been treated with a WP was sectioned from the
middle of each sample to intensify the biological tests by exposing
the inner area (cross-section) of the wood block to the blue-stain
and wood-decay fungi. All wood specimens were sterilized with
Table 1
Origin of the fungi used in the study of bioincising.
Fungi Origin Test
Physisporinus vitreus (Pers.: Fr.) P. Karst. EMPA-642
a
Bioincising
Coniophora puteana (Schum.: Fr.) Karst. DSM-3085
b
EN 113
Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.:Fr.) Murrill DSM-3087
b
EN 113
Oligoporus placenta (Fr.) Cooke EMPA-45
a
EN 113
Trametes versicolor (L.: Fr.) Pilt DSM-3086
b
EN 113
Aureobasidium pullulans (de Bary) Arnaud DSM-2404
b
EN 152
Ceratocystis picea (Mnch) H. & P. Sydow DSM-4842
b
EN 152
Cladosporium herbarum (Pers.: Fr.) Link DSM-63422
b
EN 152
Discula pinicola (Naum.) Petr. DSM-4948
b
EN 152
Sclerophoma pityophila (Corda) Hhn. EMPA-315
a
EN 152
a
Isolate from Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Tech-
nology, Switzerland.
b
Isolate from Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen
GmbH, Germany.
Table 2
Characteristics of the wood preservatives used in the study of bioincising.
Wood preservative Active substance Tests
WP 1 Biodocarb L20 TEX Bulk IPBC
a
w20% EN 152
WP 2 Biodocarb L15 BDG Bulk IPBC w15% EN 152
WP 3 Biodocarb L30 BDG Bulk IPBC w30% EN 152
WP 4 Fungitrol F-10 Bulk IPBC 10% EN 152
WP 5 Fungitrol 920 IPBC 20% EN 152
WP 6 VP7/260a IPBC 10% EN 113
Propiconazole
b
10%
a
IPBC 3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate.
b
Propiconazole 1-[ [2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-propyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl]
methyl]-1,2,4-triazole.
M. Schubert et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 65 (2011) 108e115 109
ethylene oxide as described. All tests included additional virulence
controls per treatment of untreated Norway spruce sapwood,
placed into separate vessels (European Standard EN 113, 1997;
European Standard EN 152-2, 1988). A total of 488 wood speci-
mens were used in the biological tests, with the following
modications:
Bioincised: Norway spruce heartwood (N 50) pretreated with
P. vitreus.
Control: Norway spruce heartwood (N 50) not treated with
P. vitreus.
Virulence: Norway spruce sapwood (N 100) not treated with
P. vitreus and untreated with WP.
WPx-Imp: Control (N 36) and bioincised (N 36) wood
impregnated with WP.
WPx/s-Imp: Control (N 36) and bioincised (N 36) wood
impregnated with WP and sectioned before applying the biotests.
WPx-Dip: Control (N 36) and bioincised (N 36) wood dipped
in WP.
WPx/s-Dip: Control (N 36) and bioincised (N 36) wood
dipped in WP and sectioned before applying the biotests.
After 6 weeks incubation, the percentage of blue-stain dis-
colouration of the wood specimens was evaluated by an automated
image processing method using Matlab
(Version 7.4 R2007a,

MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA) according to Schubert et al. (2010a).
The ability of the wood-decay fungi to degrade the wood was
determined gravimetrically after 16 weeks incubation and
expressed as mass loss (%) according to EN 113 (CEN 1997).
2.6. Statistical analysis
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the effect of
different wood treatments; means were separated using t-tests or
Duncans multiple range test at a signicance level P < 0.05. Data
expressed as percentages, such as blue-stain discolouration and
mass loss, were arcsine-transformed prior to analysis and back-
transformed to numerical values for visualization. The statistical
package used for all analyses was SPSS
(Version 17.0, SPSS Inc.,

Chicago, IL, USA).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Susceptibility of bioincised wood against blue-stain
and wood-decay fungi
The susceptibility of Norway spruce sapwood (virulence
controls) and the bioincised and control heartwood without
treatment with WPs against blue-stain discolouration was
compared. The blue-staining of the surface and inner area (cross-
section) of the wood specimens after 6 weeks incubation was
determined by the automated image processing method described
by Schubert et al. (2010a). Quantication of the blue-stained area
using this procedure is generally adequate, but to ensure accuracy
some points had to be considered. The processing method was not
able to distinguish other dark areas similar to blue-staining (e.g.
dark spots). It also underestimated the blue-staining if the surface
was nearly completely stained with high variation in colour
intensity, by grading the lighter blue-stained areas as sound wood.
However, overall the method allowed a rapid and objective deter-
mination of blue-staining of bioincised and untreated Norway
spruce sap- and heartwood with and without WPs.
The Norway spruce sapwood (virulence controls) showed the
highest rate of discolouration compared with the bioincised and
control wood (Fig. 1). The lower resistance of Norway spruce
sapwood compared with heartwood was also reported by Frhwald
et al. (2007) and Sandberg (2008).
A comparison of the bioincised heartwood and the control
specimens revealed no signicant (P 0.05) difference for dis-
colouration of the surface and inner areas (Fig. 1). Volkmer and
Schwarze (2008), however, observed on Norway spruce sapwood,
and particularly on Scots pine wood, which had been treated with
a top-coat preservative (IPBC) an increased blue-stain intensity on
the samples pretreated with P. vitreus. The wood specimens were
exposed to weathering (6 months) and tested according to 152-2
(CEN 1988). The authors suggested that pre-treatment with
P. vitreus enhanced the uptake of water and the subsequent
increase in wood moisture may promote colonization by blue-stain
fungi. Furthermore, the cell wall modications by P. vitreus (e.g.
selective delignication) may facilitate the decomposition of
cellulose by blue-stain fungi (Volkmer et al., 2010). Noteworthy is
that, in the present work, no enhancement of susceptibility against
blue-stain fungi could be detected in Norway spruce heartwood
after pretreament with P. vitreus.
In contrast the bioincised wood showed a higher susceptibility
to wood-decay fungi (Fig. 2).
All the wood-decay fungi used in the present study, with the
exception of Oligoporus placenta, caused signicantly higher mass
loss in the bioincised wood than in the untreated control (Fig. 2).
Schwarze et al. (2006, 2008) showed in histological studies of
Norway spruce wood that in combination with degradation of pit
membranes, P. vitreus causes selective delignication of secondary
cell walls without affecting the middle lamellae. Recently,
Lehringer et al. (2010) also described a localized degradation by
P. vitreus resembling soft-rot types I and II. The cell wall modica-
tions by P. vitreus may facilitate the decomposition of cellulose by
the wood-decay fungi. The degradation of cellulose and hemi-
cellulose by brown-rot fungi takes place in different stages. It is
assumed that cellulose-degrading enzymes are too large to pene-
trate the much smaller cell-wall capillaries without previous
modication, so in the pre-cellulotic phase hydrogen peroxide is
probably formed and with iron ions the lignocellulose matrix is lost
(Koenigs, 1974a,b). As a result of slight delignication of the cell
wall (particularly of the S2 layer) during the bioincising process, the
cellulose-degrading enzymes of the brown-rot fungi may have
easier access to the cellulose and hemicellulose in bioincised wood.
The same could be valid for Trametes versicolor, a white-rot fungus
that simultaneously degrades all wood polymers (lignin, hemi-
cellulose and cellulose). The signicantly higher mass loss in bio-
incised wood by T. versicolor is probably also related to the
increased presence of readily accessible carbohydrates (i.e.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Virulence Bioincised Control
Wood treatment
B
l
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e
-
s
t
a
i
n

d
i
s
c
o
l
o
r
a
t
i
o
n

[
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]
Surface area
Inner area
Fig. 1. Blue-stain discolouration [%] of Norway spruce sapwood (virulence) and
heartwood (control and bioincised wood) on the samples surface and inner area
(cross-section) without treatment by wood preservatives.
hemicellulose and cellulose) (Fig. 2d). In addition to higher wood
moisture, the particular cell wall modications by P. vitreus could
explain the enhanced susceptibility of bioincised wood to wood-
decay fungi.
According to EN 350-2 (CEN 1994), the heartwood of Norway
spruce is classied as weakly durable (durability class four). It is
more resistant to wood-decay fungi than the sapwood, which is
classied as non-durable (durability class ve). In the present study,
untreated heartwood showed a signicantly higher resistance to
wood-decay fungi than sapwood, whereas after bioincising the
susceptibility for wood-decay fungi in heartwood specimen was
similar to the virulent sapwood specimen (Fig. 2). It is evident that
the 6-week incubation with P. vitreus negatively inuenced the
resistance of the wood to decay, as indicated by the signicant
differences between the bioincised and the control specimens
(Fig. 2). Thus, the 6-week bioincised heartwood should probably be
ranked as durability class ve (European Standard EN 350-2, 1994).
3.2. Wood preservative uptake in bioincised wood
The uptake of all WPs was signicantly increased in the bio-
incised wood, with the exception of Fungitrol 920 after dipping
(Fig. 3a, b). In addition, the uptake of the WPs was much higher
after pressure treatment than after dipping. These results are in
good agreement with previous studies by Schwarze et al. (2006)
and Lehringer et al. (2009a).
The results from HPLC conrm the abovementioned observa-
tions (Fig. 4). The mean IPBC content at different penetration
depths in the bioincised wood and control specimens was much
higher after impregnation than after dipping. In addition, the mean
IPBC concentration at all analyzed penetration depths of bioincised
wood was higher than in the control specimens, independent of the
application method (Fig. 4). Furthermore, the uptake of preserva-
tives was dependent on the WP used, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Furthermore it can be shown by this method that the perme-
ability improvement after six weeks incubation is mostly limited to
the subsurface areas (as dened in Lehringer et al., 2009b). The
highest concentrations were always measured between zero and
1000 mm, whereas below 1000 mm in only two cases the concen-
tration of 10 000 mg/g was reached.
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
Virulence Control Bioincised
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
Wood treatment
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
M
a
s
s

l
o
s
s

[
%
]
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
Wood treatment
M
a
s
s

l
o
s
s

[
%
]
b a
c d
a
b
a
a
a
a
a
b
a
a
b
a
Fig. 2. Mass loss [%] of Norway spruce sapwood (virulence) and heartwood (control and bioincised wood) untreated with wood preservatives caused by Oligoporus placenta (a),
Coniophora puteana (b), Gloephyllum trabeum (c) and Trametes versicolor (d). Letters denote signicant differences between the wood treatments after Duncans multiple range test
(P < 0.05).
a
b
Fig. 3. Uptake of wood preservatives in heartwood specimens of Picea abies after 6
weeks incubation with Physisporinus vitreus and subsequent impregnation (a) and
dipping (b). *Signicantly increased uptake of wood preservatives compared with
control (t-test, P < 0.05).
Volkmer et al. (2010) analyzed top-coated Norway spruce
sapwood and recorded the highest IBPC concentrations in not
bioincised wood. Our results of HPLC using coated Norway spruce
heartwood specimens without weathering revealed higher
concentrations of IPBC, at least in the outer layer of wood. One
explanation for this discrepancy is that, because of the increased
permeability of the bioincised wood, leaching of the active
substance in the preservative is increased during weathering.
Therefore, for better analysis of the interaction between bioincised
wood and WPs no weathering of the analyzed specimens was
performed in the present study.
3.3. Interaction between bioincised wood and wood preservatives
Analysis showed that the modication, as described above, of
the biotests was appropriate and gave good results, particularly
because all the WPs used in the present study showed high effec-
tiveness and no signicant difference in effect on unsectioned
bioincised and control specimens could be detected. Therefore, the
following results focus generally on the sectioned wood specimens.
As shown in Table 3, and for the two representative WPs
(Fungitrol F-10andFungitrol 920) inFig. 5, themeanamount of blue-
stain discolouration in bioincised wood was reduced in comparison
to control specimens for both application methods. However, no
signicant difference could be detected for one of the WPs.
Blue-stain discolouration was on average greater in the dipped
wood than in the vacuum impregnated wood (Table 3 and Fig. 5)
and the data generally correlated with the results for the mean
penetration of IPBC, where the penetration was deeper in the
impregnated wood than in the dipped wood (Fig. 4). Furthermore,
the generally good correlation between penetration and perfor-
mance was expressed by WP 5, which showed the lowest uptake
and penetration of IPBC, regardless of the application method, and
the highest discolouration rate, as shown in Fig. 4. In addition, WPs
2 and 3 showed a high correlation between high penetration of
IPBC and highest performance for the impregnation application
method, whereas the correlation was less pronounced for the
dipped wood samples (Fig. 4). For WP 1, no correlation between
penetration and outcome could be detected, which indicates that
the effectiveness of wood-modication substances is not only
dependent on their uptake and penetration, but also on their
formulation.
In the unsectioned wood specimens treated with WP 6, there
was no or only a slight mass loss and no difference could be
determined between the performance of WP 6 in bioincised and
control wood against all the wood-decay fungi. These results also
demonstrate the high effectiveness of this product against wood-
decay fungi. In the sectioned wood specimens, however, consid-
erable differences between the outcome for WP 6 in the bioincised
and control wood was observed (Fig. 6). The interior of the control
wood specimens showed macroscopic signs of degradation after 16
weeks incubation. Only the outer layers of the control wood were
widely intact. In the sectioned bioincised wood, however, no or
only slight wood degradation could be detected (Fig. 6).
Analysis revealed that the mass loss caused by all the wood-
decay fungi was signicantly reduced in bioincised wood compared
with control wood, regardless of the application method (Fig. 6).
This effect was more prevalent in the impregnated than in the
dipped wood, which correlates with the uptake of WP 6 (Figs. 3
and 7). Overall, however, the increased retention of WP 6 in bio-
incised wood by either the vacuum impregnation or dipping
Penetration depth:
Penetration depth:
a
b
Fig. 4. IPBC (3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate) content [mg/g] in bioincised (B) and
control (C) wood treated with wood preservatives by vacuum impregnation (a) or
dipping (b).
Table 3
Blue-stain discolouration (%) of the inner area (cross-section) of control and bioincised wood treated with wood preservatives (WP) and sectioned before applying the biotest
EN 152-2.
WP 1 WP 2 WP 3 WP 4 WP 5 Mean
Impregnation
Bioincised 8.00 9.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.75 5.50 11.50 5.92 4.45 4.14
Control 16.33 16.40 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.50 14.46 14.60 8.20 8.69 7.81
Dipping
Bioincised 4.50 5.20 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.56 10.56 21.75 18.01 8.36 6.75
Control 15.17 7.78 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 19.25 5.44 31.50 24.23 13.18 7.49
WP 1 Biodocarb L20 TEX Bulk.
WP 2 Biodocarb L15 BDG Bulk.
WP 3 Biodocarb L30 BDG Bulk.
WP 4 Fungitrol F-10 Bulk.
WP 5 Fungitrol 920.
compared with the control wood led to an improved effectiveness
of WP 6 against wood-decay fungi, expressed by the signicant
reduction in mass loss in bioincised Norway spruce heartwood.
For effective wood preservation, complete or at least border
zone penetration is required (European Standard EN 335-2, 2006;
European Standard EN 351-1, 2007; Lehringer et al., 2009b).
However, in practice, complete penetration cannot be achieved in
refractory wood species (e.g. Norway spruce heartwood), because
of reduced permeability. To overcome this problem, mechanical
drilling or an incising technique is often used (Perrin, 1978). But as
our results show, the biotechnological process with P. vitreus is
a promising method of achieving higher uptake rates and deeper
penetration of WPs, thereby improving the effectiveness of the WPs
used in the present study.
Lehringer et al. (2009a) conducted preliminary tests of the
ammability of bioincised Norway spruce heartwood. The pre-
treatment with P. vitreus was similar to the method described in the
present work. Despite the higher uptake of wood-modication
agents after brushing, dipping and particularly after impregnation,
the authors found a negative effect of bioincising on the target
properties of the agents, regardless of the application method
(Lehringer et al., 2009a). Lehringer et al. (2010) showed that under
incubation conditions using a malt agar nutrient medium (narrow
C/N-ratio of approximately 50/1) the colonization of the wood was
very inhomogenous and degradation of bordered pits was accom-
panied by cell-wall degradation (selective delignication and hot-
spots of soft-rot types I and II). The latter alterations in the cell wall
structure, particularly both types of soft-rot, may be responsible for
the enhanced ammability of bioincised wood. As Lehringer dis-
cussed in detail, a high nitrogen concentration (e.g. malt agar)
seems to reduce the selective lignin degradation rate (Kirk et al.,
1978) and additionally stimulates polysaccharide breakdown (Dill
Fig. 5. Cross-sectional view of blue-stain discolouration of control (a, c) and bioincised wood (b, d) treated with Fungitrol F-10 (WP 4) by vacuum impregnation (a, b) or Fungitrol
920 by dipping (c, d), then sectioned before applying the biotest, EN 152. Scale bar 1 cm.
Fig. 6. Cross-sectional view of control (a, c, e) and bioincised wood (b, d, f) treated with VP/7260a (WP 6) by vacuum impregnation and sectioned before applying the biotest, EN
113. Wood specimens after 16 weeks incubation with Oligoporus placenta (a, b) or 16 weeks incubation with O. placenta and 2 weeks at 20

C and 65% relative humidity (c, d). Wood
specimens after 16 weeks incubation with Gloephyllum trabeum and 2 weeks at 20

C and 65% relative humidity (e, f). Scale bar 1 cm.
and Kraepelin, 1986; Levi and Cowling, 1969; Reid, 1983). Schwarze
and Landmesser (2000) and Schwarze et al. (2008) used vermicu-
lite (wide C/N-ratio of approximately 400/1) in their studies and
observed that the degradation of pit membranes only coincided
with selective delignication of the tracheids without further cell
wall damage. To upgrade the bioincising process for other wood-
modication substances the negative side-effects must be reduced
by adapting the incubation time (<6 weeks) and by optimizing the
incubation conditions.
4. Conclusion
In the present study, bioincised wood showed a signicantly
higher susceptibility to wood-decay fungi, whereas against blue-
stain fungi the bioincised wood was comparable with control wood.
Gravimetric measurements showed that the uptake of WPs was
signicantly higher in bioincised wood and HPLC analysis revealed
deeper penetration of IPBC in bioincised wood. An increased uptake
of WPs resulted in a reduction in blue-stain discolouration and in
an increase in efcacy against wood-decay fungi, as expressed by
a signicant reduction in mass loss in bioincised Norway spruce
heartwood. The results showthat the biotechnological process with
P. vitreus is a promising method of improving wood durability by
increasing the uptake and penetration of the WPs used in the
present study.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude to the Swiss CTI (Innovation
Promotion Agency, No. 8593.1 LSPP) for its nancial support.
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0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
WP6-Imp WP6/s-Imp WP6-Dip WP6/s-Dip
0.0
5.0
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[
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Bioincised
Control
Wood treatment
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s

l
o
s
s

[
%
]
Control
Bioincised
Wood treatment
Control
Bioincised
Control
Bioincised
b
c d
a
Fig. 7. Mass loss [%] of control and bioincised wood treated with VP/7260a (WP 6) caused by Oligoporus placenta (a), Coniophora puteana (b), Gloephyllum trabeum (c) and Trametes
versicolor (d). Wood was treated by vacuum impregnation (WP 6-Imp) or dipping (WP 6-Dip) and a dened amount of each specimen was sectioned (WP 6/s-Imp, WP 6/s-Dip)
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Annex

Paper V

Holzforschung, Vol. 65, pp. xxx-xxx, 2011 Copyright by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York. DOI 10.1515/HF.2011.021
2010/121
Article in press - uncorrected proof
Effect of Physisporinus vitreus on wood properties of Norway
spruce. Part 1: Aspects of delignification and surface hardness
Christian Lehringer
1,
*, Gerald Koch
2
,
Ramesh-Babu Adusumalli
3
, William M. Mook
3
,
Klaus Richter
1
and Holger Militz
4
1
Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science
and Technology, Wood Laboratory, Dubendorf,
Switzerland
2
Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology, Federal
Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries,
Hamburg, Germany
3
and Technology, Mechanics of Materials and
Nanostructures, Thun, Switzerland
4
Wood Biology and Wood Products, Burckhardt-Institute,
Georg-August-University, Gottingen, Germany
*Corresponding author.
and Technology, Wood Laboratory,
Dubendorf, Switzerland
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus is currently tested
for several biotechnological applications such as permeabil-
ity improvement of refractory wood species or the optimi-
zation of the acoustic properties of wood for violins. The
enzymatic activity of P. vitreus results in the degradation of
pit membranes and simultaneous alterations of the tracheid
cell wall structure in wood of Norway spruce wPicea abies
(L.) Karstx. By this means, selective delignification and
simultaneous degradation occur in the latewood tracheids at
short incubation times. To study the delignification of indi-
vidual cell wall layers in latewood tracheids, cellular UV-
microspectrophotometry was applied to wood of Norway
spruce that had been incubated for between 3 and 9 weeks.
By means of this technique, the progressing delignification
was demonstrated in the latewood tracheid secondary walls.
Moreover, local delignification in close proximity to hyphal
tunneling, cavities, and notches was evident. Additionally,
the mechanical changes were measured (a) at the macro-
scopic level by Brinell hardness test and (b) at the cellular
level by nanoindentation. Brinell hardness was significantly
reduced with increasing incubation time which was attributed
to the partial delignification. Unlike Brinell tests, results
from nanoindentation tests did not show a clear effect of
fungal activity because of the material heterogeneity and the
high spatial resolution of this technique. The present study
provides methodological approaches for the investigation of
wood-fungus interactions and contributes to a better under-
standing of the characteristics of wood decay at the subcel-
lular level caused by the white rot fungus P. vitreus.
Moreover, it establishes the basis for a subsequent chemical
analysis, for which the results will be the topic of a second
paper in this series.
Keywords: Brinell hardness; delignification; nanoindenta-
tion; UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP); wood decay.
Introduction
Wood decay fungi in biotechnological applications have been
studied for more than 30 years. In the pulp and paper indus-
try, white rot fungi are successfully applied in bio-pulping
or bio-bleaching of Kraft pulp (Mai et al. 2004). In the con-
text of wood technological tasks, fungi are able to modify
specific properties of wood. During the early 1960s, the use
of Myco-wood for pencil production was industrially con-
ducted in the German Democratic Republic (Unbehaun et al.
2000). More recently, the white rot fungus Physisporinus
vitreus was tested for improvement of acoustic properties of
wood for violins (Schwarze et al. 2008) or permeability
improvement (bioincising) of Norway spruce (Schwarze
et al. 2006; Lehringer et al. 2009). In these cases, homoge-
neous and rapid wood colonization and a controlled activity
of the wood decay fungus are required to ensure a high and
reproducible product quality within economically acceptable
periods of time. Moreover, the surface of the treated wood
must have an aesthetic appearance and its mechanical pro-
perties should not be weakened.
Schwarze et al. (2006) investigated the wood properties of
Norway spruce heartwood that had been incubated with P.
vitreus for 6 weeks. They found no significant reduction in
impact bending strength. However, microscopic studies
revealed morphological changes due to fungal activity, and
simultaneous degradation of pit membranes and tracheid cell
walls were observed even at early stages of substrate colo-
nization (Lehringer et al. 2010). In the same study, selective
delignification and simultaneous degradation of lignin and
polysaccharides were observed corresponding to the char-
acteristics of white rot and soft rot type I and type II. The
term selective delignification means a successive decompo-
sition of the cell wall components: the degradation of lignin
and hemicelluloses occur preferably at the beginning of fun-
gal colonization, whereas the cellulose fraction is degraded
later (Liese 1970). Simultaneous rot is characterized by fun-
gal ecto-enzymes which have the capacity to degrade cellu-
lose, hemicelluloses, and lignin at the same time (Schmidt
2006).
2 C. Lehringer et al.
Figure 1 Schematic illustration of incubation of specimens with
Physisporinus vitreus in a Petri dish and designation of the surfaces.
The darker areas on the wood surfaces indicate zones of higher
fungal activity. On the right-hand side is positioning of the Brinell
hardness measurements.
In these processes, at least two different enzymatic mech-
anisms are involved. White rot is based on a lignolytic sys-
tem that brings about preferential lignin and hemicelluloses
depolymerization at larger distances from fungal hyphae
(Blanchette et al. 1985). Soft rot is characterized by the for-
mation of narrow erosion cavities and hyphal tunneling that
implies the presence of enzymes with a very low diffusibility
(Blanchette et al. 1985). Kleist and Schmitt (2001) also
found that the lignolytic activity was restricted to a very
close vicinity of the areas of hyphal tunneling in the case if
decay was caused by brown rot and soft rot in wood of Sapeli
(Entandrophragma cylindricum Sprague).
Owing to the fungal activity occurring close to the surface,
the surface hardness can decrease whereas the overall strength
properties are not significantly affected. The mechanical inte-
grity of the surface plays a key role, if high quality wood is
required (e.g., violin wood, flooring). Hence, the effects of
these alterations have to be investigated in detail.
The impact of wood decay fungi on mechanical properties
of wood has been described in many studies (Morrell and
Zabel 1985; Kim et al. 2005; Schmidt 2006). The surface
hardness is strongly associated with cell wall density and
with the lignin content of the cell wall matrix. Accordingly,
cellular UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP) was applied to
characterize the delignification process of P. vitreus on Nor-
way spruce after incubation times of up to 9 weeks. The
UMSP technique is well suitable for detecting the topochem-
ical distribution of lignin at a subcellular level (Koch and
Kleist 2001; Irbe et al. 2006; Kim et al. 2008; Lehringer et
al. 2008; Prislan et al. 2009). Bauch et al. (1976) applied
UMSP successfully to investigate topochemical delignifica-
tion caused by fungal decay in woody tissue. Kleist and See-
hann (1997) described effects of fungal activity in latewood
regions of Norway spruce wood after 8 weeks incubation
with white rot fungus Stereum sanguinolentum. Lower lignin
contents caused by fungal delignification result in lower
absorbances at 280 nm. Moreover, the local delignification
around hyphal tunneling, cavities, and notches in the tracheid
cell walls can be visualized by field imaging.
Surface hardness measurements according to the Brinell
test method were performed, as this method is a sensitive
indicator for chemical and morphological changes caused by
wood decaying fungi (Rypacek 1966). Lignin modification
(Hakala et al. 2005), lignin removal and the reduction of cell
wall thickness due to hyphal tunneling, cavities, and notches
result in hardness reduction (Whetten and Sederoff 1995).
Finally, nanoindentation tests were performed. The record-
ed load-displacement curve and the indentation depth deliver
the basis to calculate hardness and the reduced elastic mod-
ulus at very high spatial resolution (Oliver and Pharr 2004).
Previously, this method has been applied to investigate spe-
cific structural and mechanical properties of different wood
tissues at the cell wall level (Gindl et al. 2004; Wang et al.
2006; Lee et al. 2007; Konnerth et al. 2009, 2010; Adusu-
malli et al. 2010; Stockel et al. 2010).
The principle objective of the present study is to better
understand the effect of delignification on the mechanical
properties of wood incubated with P. vitreus. Topochemical
alterations on the tracheid cell walls will be recorded and a
correlation to the Brinell hardness will be observed. More-
over, the applicability of the nanoindentation technique on
decayed wood should be assessed during short-term incu-
bation times. An in-depth chemical analysis of changes in
chemical composition due to fungal activity will follow in a
second article of this series (Lehringer et al. 2011).
Material and methods
Specimen material
One board of defect-free and klin-dried wood from a Norway spruce
tree wPicea abies (L.) Karstx was investigated. For sapwood and
heartwood, three specimen collectives were prepared. In each col-
lective, five specimens were always taken in one longitudinal
sequence to minimize the influence of natural property variation
within the single tree. As the samples were subjected to four dif-
ferent incubation periods and one control, this axial pairing provided
a good comparability of the results. Each specimen measured
200=30=30 mm
3
(L=R=T). Sterilization was done with hot
steam at 1038C for 2 h; inoculation was done with the white rot
fungus P. vitreus (microbial strain Empa 642).
The microbial strain of P. vitreus was grown on 4% malt extract
agar (MEA) medium (Oxoid, Darmstadt, Germany) in each Petri
dish stored at 228C and 70% relative humidity (RH). Once a uni-
form mycelium had formed, 2 g of steam sterilized Norway spruce
sawdust (grain size 4 mm) was added to the Petri dishes and the
system was left for another 4 weeks at 228C and 70% RH. Finally,
the infected sawdust was collected and brought into a suspension
with sterilized water; solid to liquid ratio was 10 g l
-1
.
Incubation was performed under sterile conditions by immersing
the specimens in this water suspension including sawdust and fungal
mycelia. The incubated specimens were then incubated on 1% MEA
and stored for 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks at 228C and 70% RH. Each
specimen was placed with the tangential surface facing the pith on
the nutrient medium (Figure 1). It is not the usual procedure, but
the specimens were placed directly on the MEA aiming at rapid
initial fungal colonization. After incubation, the mycelium was care-
fully removed from the surfaces and the specimens were steam-
sterilized as described above. After drying for 48 h at 408C, the
specimens were reconditioned and stored at 208C and 65% RH.
Mass losses were calculated as described by Lehringer et al. (2010).
Effect of P. vitreus on surface hardness 3
Table 1 Experimental plan for Brinell hardness tests on sapwood
(SW) and heartwood (HW).
Description Variable Factor
Wood type Sapwood (SW), 2
Heartwood (HW)
Collective A, B, C 3
Incubation time Control, 3, 5, 5
7, 9 weeks
Side on specimen Top, bottom, 4
right, left
Measurement points per side 5
Result from factor multiplication: ns600
Cellular UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP)
For cellular UMSP analyses, small blocks were extracted of
5=2=2 mm
3
(L=R=T) from the bottom side of the incubated
heartwood specimens where fungal activity was the strongest. For
each incubation time and the control samples, two replicates were
made. The specimens were prepared with epoxy resin as embedding
medium (Spurr 1969) as described by Kleist and Schmitt (1999).
After trimming the embedded specimens, 1 mm thin cross-sections
were cut on an ultramicrotome Ultracut E (Reichert-Jung, Wetzlar,
Germany) equipped with a diamond knife. The sections were trans-
ferred to quartz glass slides, thermally fixed at 708C and embedded
in glycerine. In these sections, two to three areas of high fungal
activity in the latewood tracheids were selected under the light
microscope for measuring.
The topochemical analysis was carried out with a UMSP 80
microspectrophotometer (Zeiss, Jena, Germany) equipped with a
scanning stage enabling the examination of image profiles at
ls280 nm that represents the absorbance maximum of softwood
lignin (Koch and Kleist 2001). For the field scans, areas of approx-
imately 40=40 mm
2
were scanned line by line using Apamos
software (Zeiss, Jena, Germany). The scan program captures rectan-

gular fields with a local geometric resolution of 0.25 mm=0.25 mm
and yields a photometric resolution of 4096 grayscale levels, which
are converted into 14 basic colors to visualize the absorbance inten-
sities. The high resolution enables a differentiation of the UV absor-
bance within individual cell wall layers, including a histogram of
the UV absorbance values. The average absorbance data were
extracted for the secondary cell wall regions by setting appropriate
filters with Apamos
software. For each specimen, five to seven

average spectra were included into the statistical evaluation (result-
ing in ns26).
Brinell hardness
The Brinell hardness was determined five times for each specimen
on each radial and tangential surface in a distance of 1.5 cm from
the specimen edges (distance of the measurements: 3.5 cm, Figure
1). Depending on the positioning of the specimen during incuba-
tion, the surfaces were designated as top, bottom, left, and right
(Figure 1).
Altogether, 600 measurements were performed under standard
laboratory climate conditions (208C/65% RH) (Table 1).
A universal Brinell type testing machine (Zwick, Ulm, Germany)
with 10 kN load cell and 10 mm steel indenting ball was applied.
The peak load of 500 N was reached after 15 s, followed by a 30 s
holding time and 15 s unloading. According to EN 1534 (2000),
Brinell hardness is calculated as follows:
2F
H s (1)
B
2 2
y D*p* D- D -d .
where H
B
sBrinell hardness (N/mm
2
), Fsmax. force (N), Dsdia-
meter of steel ball (mm), dsdiameter of intent (mm).
Sonderegger and Niemz (2001) proposed a calculation as differ-
ential measurement of indentation depth between wood surface and
lowest point of steel ball circumference, i.e., the depth of indentation
h:
2 2
y D- D -d .
hs . (2)
2
Brinell hardness was calculated in the present study according to
the adapted Eq. (3).
F
H s . (3)
B
D*p*h
Nanoindentation
The nanoindentation measurements (Hysitron Ubi nanoindenter,
Hysitron Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA, at ambient room climate)
were carried out on the same blocks on which the UMSP measure-
ments were performed. The sample preparation for nanoindentation
was performed according to Konnerth et al. (2008). Latewood (LW)
tracheids with decayed cell walls were located by light microscopy
and the optical microscope of the nanoindenter. On average, 20
indents per sample were placed by visual positioning in the degrad-
ed LW tracheid cell walls. Earlywood cell walls were not indented,
because cell walls were too thin.
A Berkovich indenter tip, edge length -150 nm, with three-sided
pyramid geometry was used, which was pressed with a determined
force into the cell wall cross-section. A maximum load of 250 mN
was selected for nanoindentation. Loading and unloading speed was
100 mN s
-1
and the holding time at peak load was 15 s to monitor
the visco-plastic creep. The selected surface regions (40=40 mm
2
)
were then scanned with normal forces of approximately 200 nN
using the indentation tip.
The load-displacement curves obtained from all experiments were
evaluated according to the method of Oliver and Pharr (1992). Peak
load (P
max
), contact area (A), and initial slope of the unloading curve
(S) are the parameters for calculations of the hardness (H) and the
reduced modulus of elasticity (E
r
) (hereinafter referred as MOE) as
shown in Eqs. (4) and (5):
P
max
Hs (4)
A
1 S
y E s p . (5)
r
2
yA
The contact area A at P
max
was determined from the known shape
of the indenter, calibrated by indenting a material with known prop-
erties (in this case fused quartz).
Statistical evaluation
For all collected data, a one-way analysis of variance and a Tukey
honesty test were conducted with the statistic software Systat12
(Systat Software Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A P-value of -0.05 was

considered statistically significant.
Figure 2 Representative UV microscopic scanning profiles of Norway spruce latewood tracheids after zero (a), 7 (b), 9 (c), 12 (d), and
32 (e) weeks of incubation with Physisporinus vitreus. The color pixels represent different UV absorbances of the cell wall layers at
ls280 nm. Hyphal tunneling (1), notches (2), and cavities (3) can be observed as proof for simultaneous degradation. The progress of
selective delignification is visible by lowered absorbances in areas of the secondary cell wall layers.
Results and discussion
UMSP
Delignification of individual cell wall layers and in localized
regions caused by P. vitreus was detected at 280 nm, at which
softwood lignins have an absorbance maximum (Figure 2).
The color pixels indicate different intensities of the UV
absorbance at the respective l
max
values. As expected, the
UV image profiles of sound spruce tracheids (Figure 2a) are
characterized by high absorbance values in the cell corners
and in the compound middle lamella (Abs
280nm
s0.480.87).
The absorbance in the secondary cell wall (S2) ranged
between Abs
280nm
s0.29 and Abs
280nm
s0.48 and correspond-
ed well to findings of Fergus et al. (1969) who described the
average lignin content in the compound middle lamella
(CML) being twice as high as that in the adjacent secondary
tracheid walls.
Hyphal tunneling within the S2 of LW tracheids, which
is commonly considered to be a characteristic of a soft rot
type I (Schwarze 2007) is demonstrated in Figure 2c. The
presence of hyphal tunneling characterized by spots with
significant lower absorbances confirms the results from
light microscopy investigations (Lehringer et al. 2010).
There, selective delignification and simultaneous degradation
were found in close proximity to each other. Delignification
is limited to a very narrow region around the zone of hyphal
growth as indicated clearly by low absorbances around these
structures (Abs
280nm
s0.090.22). The reason for this obser-
vation is clear: the lignolytic enzymes do not diffuse deeply
into the secondary wall but rather act in close proximity to
the hyphae, as also described by Kleist and Schmitt (2001)
for brown rot fungi.
Effects of selective delignification are displayed in Figure
2ce. Additional to the hyphal tunneling, reduced Abs
280nm
(0.16 and 0.29) are discernable in larger areas of the sec-
ondary tracheid cell walls. In this case, P. vitreus depoly-
merizes lignin and hemicelluloses in the tracheid cell walls
from the lumen towards the CML by means of extracellular
enzymes and probably also by other coexisting lignolytic
systems (Blanchette et al. 1985). By this means, the cell wall
shape remains mostly unaltered and the same is true for
Figure 3 Decreasing UV absorbance at ls280 nm in latewood tracheids of Norway spruce after different incubation periods with white
rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus.
the cellulose within the cell wall. However, the CML
showed discreet signs of delignification after 7 and 9 weeks
incubation.
As an additional source of information, the status after 12
and 32 weeks of incubation is illustrated in Figure 2d,e.
Here, the material was incubated with the same method. But
the specimens originated from another wood board. This is
the reason why the data were only taken for sporadic vali-
dation. Nevertheless, the images confirm the observed trend
and exemplarily demonstrate the effects of fungal activity at
advanced stages of degradation.
The mean UV absorbances showed a decreasing trend as
a function of incubation time (Figure 3). Even though the
changes are statistically not always significant compared to
the control specimen, the trend depicts the expected tendency
of increasing delignification with longer incubation times.
After 3 and 5 weeks incubation, the decrease of average UV
absorbances ranged at -1.3% and -1.9%, respectively. After
7 and 9 weeks incubation time, the values decreased stepwise
to -6% and -8.9%, respectively.
The method of UMSP permits to plot discreet changes of
mean lignin content even after short-time incubation with the
white rot fungi P. vitreus. However, the statistical relevance
of the data is limited because of the natural variability and
increased heterogeneity due to fungal activity.
Brinell hardness
Heartwood and sapwood The Brinell hardness of the
control samples in heartwood and sapwood was 18.1 N mm
-2
and 18.9 N mm
-2
, respectively (Figure 4, box plots). As
differences in Brinell hardness for radial and tangential
measurement orientation were negligible, the average values
were calculated. Generally, the values for the sapwood spec-
imen were slightly higher than the heartwood specimen. This
is due to the fact that the initial density of the sapwood
specimens was 3.2% higher than the heartwood specimens.
The initial density of the sapwood samples was 0.47 g cm
-3
"
4.4% and of the heartwood samples 0.45 g cm
-3
"
6.8%.
The first 5 weeks of colonization with P. vitreus resulted
in a moderate effect on Brinell hardness. The changes of
Brinell hardness were not statistically significant neither in
sapwood nor in heartwood compared to the control. But after
7 and 9 weeks, the average Brinell hardness was reduced
significantly to values between 13.4 and 16.5 N mm
-2
, which
indicate a strong increase in fungal activity. Hence, the aver-
age decrease of Brinell hardness amounted to -15.2% and
-29.9% for sapwood and -14.5% and -24.1% for heartwood
after 7 and 9 weeks incubation, respectively (Figure 4, line
plots).
Lehringer et al. (2010) found similar patterns by light
microscopy on the same material. A significantly higher
activity of P. vitreus was observed after 7 and 9 weeks incu-
bation causing notably more effects on LW tracheid cell
walls and pit structures than after 3 or 5 weeks. However, in
comparison to other white rot fungi, degradation of the wood
matrix remains at a low level even after 9 weeks incubation
(see also van Acker and Stevens 1996; Reinprecht et al.
2007). The low mass losses of 2.4% for heartwood and 2.9%
for sapwood samples validate the relative weak degradation
potential of P. vitreus during short incubation times.
According to Rypacek (1966), Whetten and Sederoff (1995)
and Adusumalli et al. (2010), the removal of lignin results
in hardness reduction because lignin as a crosslinking agent
is responsible for carrying compression forces within the cell
wall and the tissue. Hence, the loss of Brinell hardness can
safely be attributed to slight delignification, as shown above
by UMSP, and the morphological changes of the tracheid cell
walls, as demonstrated by Lehringer et al. (2010).
Spatial heterogeneity The asymmetric supply of nutri-
ents, storage of carbohydrates, water, and oxygen induced a
Figure 4 Change of Brinell hardness in Norway spruce after different incubation periods with white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus. All
data from top, bottom, left, and right specimen side are included. *Significant difference compared to control.
Figure 5 Percentage changes of Brinell hardness according to surface orientation during incubation. *Significant difference between top
and bottom specimens.
heterogeneous colonization of P. vitreus in the substrate.
Consequently, the bottom areas of the specimen were signif-
icantly more affected than the top surfaces (Figures 1 and
5). The greatest reduction in Brinell hardness values was
recorded after 9 weeks at the bottom of the sapwood speci-
men (-45.2%).
Minor increases in Brinell hardness can be explained as
normal oscillation of the measurement data that results from
natural material heterogeneity and the earlywood/latewood
distribution at the measurement spot.
Nanoindentation
Indentations were selectively performed in areas of visible
fungal activity. The indenter tip was placed close to hyphal
tunneling, cavities, and notches to record the effect of enzymatic
degradation in the proximity of hyphal growth (Figure 6).
No clear influence of fungal activity on the nanoindenta-
tion data was found over a period of 9 weeks of incubation
with P. vitreus (Figure 7). The average MOE and hardness
for the heartwood control samples was measured to be
Figure 6 (a) Reflected light microscope micrograph of a polished
cross-section of epoxy-resin embedded specimen. (b) Hysitron scan-
ning image of wood cell wall after indentation testing. Note the
indentation marks in the secondary cell walls. CC, cell corner;
CML, compound middle lamella; S2, secondary cell wall. Both
micrographs are from cuts after 5 weeks incubation.
Figure 7 (a, b) Nanoindentation hardness and reduced modulus of elasticity (MOE) in secondary walls of latewood tracheids in Norway
spruce wood incubated with Physisporinus vitreus.
19.2
"
9.6% and 0.48
"
6.1% GPa, respectively. These values
are somewhat comparable with data obtained by Wimmer et
al. (1997) and Gindl et al. (2002). Between 3 and 9 weeks
incubation, MOE and hardness oscillated between 19.4
20.3 GPa and 0.470.53 GPa, respectively.
As explained above, hardness is strongly influenced by the
lignin content of the cell wall. Consequently, it can be
expected that local delignification reduces the hardness with-
in the cell wall. But apparently, the absolute changes in lignin
content were too low for detection with nanoindentation
measurements.
Nanoindentation evaluates only a very limited area within
the tracheid cell wall, and hence large coefficients of varia-
tion (CV) can be expected. However, the CV increased with
longer incubation times to 10%. This can be interpreted as
an increasing heterogeneity of the cell wall matrix with
increasing incubation times.
The MOE determined with nanoindentation corresponds
to an MOE in compression. Therefore, one could assume that
the MOE should clearly decrease in areas with a certain
amount of delignification. But according to Bergander and
Salmen (2002), delignification plays a subordinate role in
this case, because lignin MOE is very low (2.0 GPa) in com-
parison to hemicelluloses (7.0 GPa) and cellulose (167.5
GPa). Instead, the MOE is directly proportional to the micro-
fibril angle (MFA) as suggested by Gindl and Schoberl
(2004) and Wu et al. (2009). However, MFA measurements
were not conducted in the present study because all speci-
mens originated from a longitudinal sequence in the same
board.
Conclusions
Cellular UMSP measurements showed that the white rot fun-
gus Physisporinus vitreus induces selective delignification
and simultaneous degradation in latewood tracheids of Nor-
way spruce wood. The method allows detecting discreet
changes of lignin content, caused by a white rot fungus. The
effect is time-dependent and clearly visible after incubation
times between 7 and 9 weeks. The coexistence of two ligno-
lytic systems of P. vitreus can be confirmed by UMSP. The
reduction of the Brinell hardness was only significant after
7 and 9 weeks of incubation. A good correlation between
Brinell hardness and the progress of delignification was
found. The results of nanoindentation were not as consistent
as the results of Brinell hardness. The reproducibility of this
method proved to be low due to the heterogeneity of the cell
wall, which is changing during degradation. An in-depth
analysis of chemical alterations induced by the enzymatic
activity of P. vitreus will be the subject of the second article
of this series (Lehringer et al. 2011).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. J. Michler, Jessica Parsons, and Kom-
baiah Boopathy for their great support during nanoindentation meas-
urements at Empa Thun. Moreover, we would like to express our
gratitude to Markus Heeb (Empa St. Gallen) for his valuable assis-
tance during laboratory work. We also gratefully acknowledge the
professional contribution of Prof. F.W.M.R. Schwarze during inten-
sive discussions and proofreading. The present study emerged from
the research project CTI.8593.1 LSPP-LS Bioincising of conifer
wood with Physisporinus vitreus to improve its treatability for a
range of wood preservation and modification methods. The authors
express their gratitude to the Swiss CTI (Innovation Promotion
Agency) for financial support.
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to data of adhesives and cell walls measured by nanoindentation.
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tigation into the biotechnological modification of wood and its
application in the wood-based material industry. Acta Biotech-
nol. 20:305312.
van Acker, J., Stevens, M. (1996) Laboratory culturing and decay
testing with Physisporinus vitreus and Donkioporia expansa
originating from identical cooling tower environments show
major differences. Int. Res. Group Wood Pres. IRG/WP/10184:8.
Wang, S., Lee, S.H., Tze, W.T.Y., Rials, T., Pharr, G.M. (2006)
Nanoindentation as a tool for understanding nano-mechanical
properties of wood cell wall and biocomposites. In: TAPPI Inter-
national Conference on Nanotechnology, Atlanta, GA, USA. pp.
152158.
Whetten, R., Sederoff, R. (1995) Lignin biosynthesis. Plant Cell
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Received July 16, 2010. Accepted September 28, 2010.

Annex

Paper VI

1

Effect of Physisporinus vitreus on wood properties of Norway spruce. Part 2: As- 1
pects of microtensile strength and chemical changes 2
Christian Lehringer
1*
, Bodo Saake
2
, Vjekoslav ivkovi
3
, Klaus Richter
1
, Holger Militz
4
3
1
Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Wood Labor- 4
atory, Dbendorf, Switzerland, *corresponding author: [email protected] 5
2
University of Hamburg, Department of Wood Science, Chemical Wood Technology, 6
Hamburg, Germany 7
3
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry, Wood Technology Department, Zagreb, Croatia 8
4
Wood Biology and Wood Products, Burckhardt-Institute, Georg-August-University, 9
Gttingen, Germany 10
11
1 Abstract 12
The biotechnological application of the white rot fungus Physisporinus vitreus named "bio- 13
incising" is being currently investigated for permeability improvement of Norway spruce 14
(Picea abies (L.) Karst.) wood. During short term (< 9 weeks) incubation, fungal activity in- 15
duces degradation of pit membranes and a simultaneous alteration of the tracheid cell wall 16
structure. In part 1 of this article series, the occurrence of selective delignification and si- 17
multaneous degradation was shown by UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP). Moreover, 18
significant reduction of Brinell hardness was recorded after 7 and 9 weeks incubation. In 19
order to better understand the chemical alterations of the wood constituents due to fungal 20
activity and the corresponding changes of mechanical properties we applied microtensile 21
tests on thin strips that were prepared from incubated Norway spruce wood. Clear indica- 22
tions for the occurrence of selective delignification and simultaneous degradation were 23
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evident. Determination of lignin content and carbohydrate analysis by borate anion ex- 24
change chromatography confirmed the results. Finally, Fourier transform infrared spec- 25
troscopy (FT-IR) was applied as methodological complementation. The interpretation of 26
the spectra proved to be difficult since mass losses ranged at a low level (< 9%). Further- 27
more, lignin and carbohydrates were simultaneously degraded and no consistent refer- 28
ence peaks could be identified. However, the present study verifies the findings from part 1 29
of this article series and from previously conducted microscopic investigations. The results 30
will help to better understand the degradation characteristics of P. vitreus and contribute to 31
an enhancement of the bioincising process. 32
33
Keywords: chemical analysis; finite span; FT-IR; selective delignification; simultaneous 34
degradation; zero span 35
36
2 Introduction 37
Permeability improvement of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) wood by means of a 38
biotechnological method called "bioincising" has been investigated intensively during the 39
past years (Schwarze and Landmesser 2000; Schwarze et al. 2006; Schubert et al. 2009; 40
Schwarze and Schubert 2009; Lehringer et al. 2010a; 2010b). Hereby, the white rot fungus 41
Physisporinus vitreus is supposed to selectively degrade the membranes of the bordered 42
and half-bordered pits during short term incubation times. The bioincised material showed 43
significant improvement of liquid uptakes (Schwarze et al. 2006) but also anatomical 44
changes of the cell wall structure due to fungal activity were reported by Lehringer et al. 45
(2010a). Not only pit membranes are degraded selectively but also cell wall detoriation oc- 46
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curs, induced by a selective delignification and a simultaneous degradation of lignin and 47
polysaccharides. The term selective delignification is applied to a successive decomposi- 48
tion of the cell wall components. Preferably the degradation of lignin and hemicelluloses 49
occur at the beginning of fungal colonization, while the mainly the crystalline region of cel- 50
lulose fraction is degraded rather at later stages (Liese 1970). Simultaneous rot is charac- 51
terized by fungal ecto-enzymes which have the capacity to degrade cellulose, hemicellu- 52
loses and lignin at the same time (Schmidt 2006). 53
Analysis of Brinell hardness revealed a significant hardness reduction in the subsurface 54
area after 7 and 9 weeks incubation (first paper of this article series, Lehringer et al. 55
2010b). In the same work, the application of cellular UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP) 56
indicated chemical alterations of the main wood components in close vicinity of fungal hy- 57
phae. 58
An improved knowledge of these chemical alterations is critical for further development of 59
the process. For successful upscaling of the bioincising process, the incubation period- 60
must be short (< 4 weeks) and wood colonization homogeneous, to reduce adverse side 61
effects e.g. structural alterations. Currently, the incubation conditions are being identified 62
and optimized. For this purpose, a detailed knowledge of the degradation pattern of P. vi- 63
treus and of the resulting chemical alterations is crucial. Factors during incubation such as 64
temperature, water activity, nutrient and oxygen supply have an influence on the homo- 65
geneity, the speed of substrate colonization and finally on the selectivity of fungal activity 66
towards different cell wall components. Especially the carbon/nitrogen-ratio (C/N-ratio) has 67
recently been discussed to affect the degradation characteristics of P. vitreus (Lehringer et 68
al. 2010a) during incubation. The specimens used in the present study were incubated on 69
malt extract agar (MEA) that has a narrow C/N-ratio (50/1). It is well established that a nar- 70
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row C/N-ratio usually facilitates the degradation of polysaccharides by wood decay fungi. 71
In order to investigate these aspects of chemical changes and the resulting micromechanic 72
effects, the microtensile testing method appears to be a suitable approach. 73
Microtensile tests of microtomed (approx. 80 m thick) wood strips have been conducted 74
in the past by various authors (Kennedy and Ifju 1962; Grozdits and Ifju 1969; Derbyshire 75
et al. 1995; Turkulin and Sell 2002). Usually two measurement setups are applied. At the 76
zero span method the jaws holding the thin strip are initially in contact. All microfibrils in 77
the cross section are bridging the infinitesimal gap between the jaws and the test is princi- 78
pally a measure of microfibril strength. Since the microfibrils are the cell wall elements re- 79
sponsible for the longitudinal tensile strength of the wood structure, the zero span tensile 80
strength is generally greater than any value of tensile strength determined in a finite span 81
test. For the finite span method, the thin strips are mounted between the jaws with a free 82
distance of 10 mm. This approach provides further information about the bonding proper- 83
ties between the fibers, because the middle lamella (where the highest lignin content is 84
found) will additionally react sensitively on the tensile stresses. 85
We applied microtensile tests on thin strips in order to investigate the mechanical changes 86
of the tracheid cell (wall) matrix during incubation times between 0 and 9 weeks. We envi- 87
saged a predominant occurrence of selective delignification to be detected by a decreas- 88
ing finite span strength (f-strength), whereas the zero span strength (z-strength) should 89
decrease if the decay pattern is governed by simultaneous degradation of lignin and poly- 90
saccharides. Microtensile tests were used for material characterization in various contexts 91
(Derbyshire et al. 1995; Jirous-Rajkovic et al. 2004; Gierlinger and Burgert 2006; Keu- 92
necke and Niemz 2008; Eder et al. 2009; Xiao et al. 2010; Xie et al. 2010). However, to 93
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our knowledge this method has been previously applied for the characterization of de- 94
cayed wood exclusively by Wilcox and Garcia (1968). 95
Subsequently, we carried out a wet chemical analysis in order to provide further informa- 96
tion about the degradative activity of P. vitreus. The wet chemical analysis for the investi- 97
gation on wood decaying fungi is a well established approach and has previously been 98
applied by e.g. Crawford et al. (1982), Rabinovich et al. (2004), Istek et al. (2005) and 99
Schmutzer et al. (2008). 100
Finally, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was applied. The aim was to trace 101
the discreet changes in chemical properties with this method that requires contrary to 102
wet chemical analysis only small sample sizes and short analysis time. The method is 103
well accepted as a fast and efficient technique for analyzing and monitoring structural 104
wood changes during biological, chemical or physical modification (Owen and Thomas 105
1989; Faix et al. 1991; Moore and Owen 2001; Pandey and Pitman 2003). 106
The main objective of the present study is to elucidate the mechanical and chemical 107
changes that are induced by P. vitreus at the subsurface area during short term incubation 108
of spruce wood on MEA. Findings are expected to clarify whether the enzymatic activity of 109
P. vitreus predominately results in a selective delignification or if a simultaneous degrada- 110
tion occurs in a first phase of substrate colonization. Finally, the results will contribute to 111
the further improvement of the bioincising incubation process. 112
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3 Material and Methods 113
3.1 Specimen material 114
One board of defect-free and kiln-dried wood from a Norway spruce tree (Picea abies (L.) 115
Karst.) was investigated. For sapwood and heartwood, three specimen collectives were 116
prepared. In each collective, five specimens were always taken in one longitudinal se- 117
quence in order to minimize the influence of natural property variation within the single 118
tree. As the samples were subjected to four different incubation periods and one control, 119
this axial pairing provided a good comparability of the results. Each specimen measured 120
200 x 30 x 30 mm
3
(L x R x T). After sterilization, the specimens were incubated with the 121
white rot fungus P. vitreus for 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks at 22C and 70% RH. For a detailed 122
description of material selection and specimen preparation see Lehringer et al. (2010b). 123
Density and mass loss were calculated as described in Lehringer et al. (2010a). 124
Chemical analysis and the FT-IR spectroscopy was conducted on smaller wood speci- 125
mens of Norway spruce sap- and heartwood (L x R x T: 100 x 15 x 10 mm
3
) that were in- 126
cubated separately, but exactly following the same incubation routine as used for the larg- 127
er specimens in Lehringer et al. (2010b). Three replicates for each incubation time were 128
prepared. In contrast to the larger wood specimens, mass losses were determined after 129
drying to a moisture content of 0% to provide a definite basis for further calculations. 130
3.2 Microtensile testing 131
Softwood and heartwood specimens from all three collectives were taken for thin strip 132
preparation (Table 1). Blocks of L x R x T 80 x 10 x 30 mm
3
were prepared from the bot- 133
tom surface of the incubated specimens where fungal activity was most pronounced (see 134
also Lehringer et al., 2010b). 135
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Table 1 Experimental plan for microtensile strip preparation 136
Description Variable Factor
Wood type Sapwood (SW ), heartwood (HW) 2
Collective A, B, C 3
Incubation time control, 3, 5, 7, 9 weeks 5
Side on specimen bottom 1
Replicates Number of prepared strips 20
Result from factor multiplication: n = 600
The blocks were vacuum impregnated with distilled water at ambient temperature until fully 137
saturated. Sequential microtoming of 80 m thin strips (n = 20 per block) in the longitudin- 138
al-radial plane was conducted with slight inclination of the specimens at an angle of ~ 5 to 139
the radial plane in order to avoid disturbing influences by the wood rays. 140
A thorough thickness control of each single strip was conducted. Thickness measurements 141
(average of 5 points on each strip) were made using an electronic thickness gauge (Mitu- 142
toyo, Kanagawa, Japan, accuracy 0.1 m). All strips passing the target thickness by 143
5% were rejected, resulting in 12 to 19 strips per block, thus the total number of tested 144
strips was n = 528. Each strip was then cut in the tangential-radial plane into two parts, 145
which then were measured separately at finite span and zero span. 146
For microtensile testing a paper tester (Pulmac International Inc., Montpelier, VT, USA) 147
was used at standard laboratory conditions of 20C, 65% RH. The ultimate breaking load 148
was recorded in pounds per square inch (Psi) and recalculated to Newton (N). The clamp- 149
ing pressure was set to 0.55 MPa for finite span and 0.62 MPa for zero span and the load- 150
ing rate was set to 70 kPa s
-1
for all measurements. 151
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The trends of decreasing tensile strength against increasing incubation times were dis- 152
played by means of linear regression plots. Hereby, the slope of the regression lines was 153
taken as comparative measure for the intensity of fungal activity on the cell wall compo- 154
nents. 155
3.3 Chemical analysis 156
3.3.1 Two step hydrolysis and lignin determination 157
All incubated specimens were ground in a vibration mill (Herzog, Osnabrck, Germany) 158
prior to hydrolysis. The milled powder was then conditioned at 20C and 65% RH and 159
moisture content was determined for further calculations. A two step-hydrolysis with 72% 160
H
2
SO
4
for 1 hour at 30C and 2.6% H
2
SO
4
for 40 minutes at 120C was conducted. After 161
filtration, 1 ml of the hydrolyzate was removed for analysis in the Borate anion exchange 162
chromatography. Lignin content was determined as hydrolysis residue (Willfr et al. 2009) 163
and acid-soluble lignin was measured by UV-spectroscopy ( = 205 nm) according to Tap- 164
pi 250 (2005). 165
3.3.2 Borate anion exchange chromatography for carbohydrate analysis 166
The stationary phase consisted of the anion exchange MCI Gel CA08F (Mitsubishi Chemi- 167
cal Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) packed in Omnifit
(Bio-Chem Valve, Boonton, USA) emp- 168

ty columns of 7 x 11.5 mm. The mobile phase consisted of (A) 0.3M potassium tetraborate 169
and (B) 0.9M potassium tetraborate at 0.7 ml min
-1
gradient elution. The gradient elution 170
was conducted as follows: 0min: 90% A, 10% B; 35min: 10% A, 90% B; 47min: end. Post- 171
column derivatization was obtained by the addition of cubicinchoniate (0.35 ml min
-1
) and 172
subsequent heating to 105C in a 0.3 mm Teflon coil. Detection at 560 nm was performed 173
with a UV-VIS-detector (Sinner et al. 1975; Sinner and Puls 1978; Willfr et al. 2009). 174
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The amounts of detected monosaccharides were corrected for water addition during hy- 175
drolysis. The percentage losses for cellulose, xylan and mannan (Table 3, columns 1215) 176
were determined corresponding to the constitution of their monosaccharides, respectively 177
the arabinoglucuronoxylans and galactoglucomannas of softwoods. According to (Timell 178
1967) and Janzon et al.(2008) the carbohydrates were calculated with Equations (1), (2) 179
and (3) where the mannose/glucose-ratio is defined with 3:1. 180
arabinose acid uronic methylgluc O 4 xylose xylan
(1)
3
mannose
galactose mannose mannan
(2)
3
mannose
glucose cellulose
(3)
3.3.3 Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) 181
A spectrophotometer FTS-6000 with golden gate single reflection diamond ATR P/N 182
10500 Series (Portsman Instruments AG, Biel-Benken, Switzerland) was used for collect- 183
ing the FT-IR spectra. The size of the measuring area was 0.36 mm
2
and the resolution of 184
the equipment was set to 8 cm
-1
with 32 average scans. Contact pressure was set to 100 185
cN. Ten spectra were taken on the bottom side of each sample on the longitudinal-radial 186
surface orientation following one annual ring and averaged for further evaluation. 187
The peak heights were determined using the software Resolutions Pro
(Digilab, Holliston, 188

USA). Subsequently, the peak heights for lignin associated bands were related against 189
carbohydrate reference peaks in order to display relative changes in the composition of the 190
wood constituents (Faix et al. 1991; Pandey and Pitman 2003). 191
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3.4 Data analysis 192
For all collected data, a one way ANOVA and a Tukey honesty test were conducted with 193
the statistic software Systat12
(Systat Software Inc., Chicago, USA). A probability value 194

of p < 0.05 was considered to print to significant differences. 195
4 Results and discussion 196
4.1 Mictrotensile 197
As shown in Table 2, the finite span strength (f-strength) was always at least one third 198
lower than the zero span strength (z-strength). This was to be expected, since the mode of 199
failure in zero span and in finite span tests is the same, but the bigger influence of plastic 200
deformations and inter-tracheid bonding in the CML generally causes lower strength val- 201
ues in finite span testing (Derbyshire et al. 1995; Turkulin and Sell 2002). 202
Table 2 Absolute values for microtensile strength after incubation of Norway spruce wood with P. 203
vitreus 204
Sapwood/
Heartwood
Incubation time
(weeks)
Mass loss (%) Zero span (N) Finite span (N)
Index finite span
to zero span
SW
Control - 96.8 4.4 66.6 6.2 0.7
3 0.1 0.2 96.8 6.8 55.1 7.1 0.6
5 1.2 0.5 79.9 8 50.2 7.9 0.6
7 2.4 0.7 69.4 9.6 30.9 4.5 0.4
9 2.9 0.8 49.5 5 23 6.2 0.5
HW
Control - 91 9.6 60.4 10.5 0.7
3 1.1 0.5 89.3 9.5 64.8 10.2 0.7
5 1.3 0.6 98.9 8.1 68 9.3 0.7
7 2.1 0.8 69.6 8.7 44.7 8.2 0.6
9 2.4 1.4 60.2 14.7 41.5 5.3 0.7
In heartwood, the ratio f/z-strength ranged for all incubation times between 0.6 and 0.7, 205
while for sapwood a larger span was recorded with ratios down to 0.4 and 0.5 after 7 and 9 206
weeks incubation, respectively. Turkulin and Sell (2002) conducted microtensile tests on 207
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photodegraded thin strips and reported similar ratios of f- and z-strength. The reduced val- 208
ues for sapwood samples with longer incubation time are due to relatively stronger de- 209
crease of f-strength than z-strength. Increased delignification along with higher degrada- 210
tion rates of cellulose obviously induce a stronger effect on f-strength. 211
The sapwood specimens showed a significant loss of z-strength after 5 weeks incubation 212
(Figure 1). After 9 weeks, z-strength retention was recorded to 51.1 10% and the slope 213
of the regression line plotted to -11.3*x. In comparison, f-strength for the softwood speci- 214
mens decreased significantly after 3 weeks incubation and resulted in a minimum strength 215
retention of 34.6 26.9% after 9 weeks. The regression line plotted to -16.6*x. 216
The effect of P. vitreus on the heartwood specimens was less pronounced. A significant 217
drop of both z- and f-strength was recorded after 7 weeks and the strength retention after 218
9 weeks was 66.1 24.4% for z-strength and 68.7 12.9% for f-strength. The regression 219
slopes for z- and f-strength were -5.7*x and -10.3*x, respectively. 220
221
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Figure 1 Effect of incubation with Physisporinus vitreus on microtensile strength of Norway spruce 222
sapwood (a,b) and heartwood (c,d). (*) = significant changes compared to control (zero weeks) 223
The slopes of the regression line serve as indicator for the degradation rates of P. vitreus 224
on lignin and cellulose. Firstly, the slopes for the sapwood specimens were always higher 225
than for the heartwood specimens. This suggests a higher degradation rate in sapwood 226
than in heartwood. Due to a lower degree of extractives and a general better accessibility 227
of nutrients and carbohydrates the degradative activity of wood decay fungi is commonly 228
higher in sapwood than in heartwood (Rypacek 1966; Schmidt 2006). 229
Secondly, the slopes of the linear regression and accordingly the strength losses in finite 230
span measurements were always higher than in zero span tests. It is a well accepted fact, 231
that the z-strength mainly reflects a testing of cellulose microfibrils in the tracheid cell walls 232
(Law et al. 1977; Derbyshire et al. 1996; Turkulin and Sell 2002). In contrast f-strength is a 233
measure for the inter-tracheid-bonding strength that is determined by the lignin content of 234
the compound middle lamella (CML) and the cellulose microfibrils. According to this, the 235
higher losses in f-strength can be explained by delignification processes and the resulting 236
inter-fiber slippage effects. The degradation of cellulose additionally contributes to a loss of 237
f-strength. The microscopic and topochemical investigations on bioincised wood by Le- 238
hringer et al. (2010a; 2010b) revealed local regions of a selective delignification of the 239
tracheid cell walls by P. vitreus that is commencing from the lumen through the secondary 240
cell wall towards the CML. Even though the cell wall structure remains mostly intact during 241
the first 9 weeks of incubation, it is probable that the progressing delignification also wea- 242
kens the bonding properties of the CML. 243
The progressing weakening of the tracheid cell wall due to hyphal tunneling, cavities and 244
notches (as reported by Lehringer et al. 2010a,b) is mainly reflected by the decreasing z- 245
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strength. Chain length reduction of the microfibrils (degree of polymerization, DP) and lig- 246
nin depolymerization result in a pronounced reduction of tensile strength. 247
The microtensile strengths showed a stepwise decrease after 7 and 9 weeks (Figure 248
1a,c,d). Congruently, studies on morphological changes, Brinell hardness and delignifica- 249
tion determined by UMSP also displayed stronger effects of P. vitreus after 7 to 9 weeks 250
incubation (Lehringer et al. 2010a; 2010b). Hence, incubation times should be kept signifi- 251
cantly below 7 weeks to avoid major adverse effect on the mechanical wood properties. 252
For the heartwood specimens, partly increasing values of f-strength (3 and 5 weeks) and 253
of z-strength (5 weeks) were recorded (Figure 1). To our knowledge, in the existing litera- 254
ture it has not been described that increasing tensile strength occurred neither during 255
white, brown nor soft rot degradation. This effect could only be seriously explained by 256
chemical reactions (such as polymerization or cross-linking) that occur on the cellulose 257
and/or lignin polymers during fungal degradation. But instead, enzymatic depolymerization, 258
hydrolysis and oxidative reactions occur that commonly reduce the mechanical integrity of 259
the wood. Turkulin and Sell (2002) discussed the initial increase of z-strength that they ob- 260
served during photodegradation of softwoods by ultraviolet radiation. They proposed an in- 261
itial 'radiation induced cross-linking' between cellulose microfibrils that was later followed 262
by high strength losses. However, this hypothesis is not applicable in our case since we 263
worked with a wood decay fungus. Thus, the minor increases of microtensile strength must 264
rather be explained with a normal distortion of the measurement data. 265
266
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4.2 Chemical analysis 267
Weight losses of the specimen from chemical analysis ranged between 0.1 0.1% and 8.2 268
0.6% in sapwood and 0.1 0.05% and 6 1.6% for heartwood (Table 3). These values 269
are higher than the recorded mass losses of the specimens used for microtensile testing 270
(see Table 2). This is due to the fact that the specimens incubated for chemical analysis 271
and FT-IR spectroscopy provided a smaller volume and thus the absolute losses by fungal 272
degradation resulted in virtually higher mass losses. But still, P. vitreus shows to be a 273
wood decay fungus with comparable low degradation rates, as also discussed by Lehring- 274
er et al. (2010b). 275
The percentage alterations of the main wood components are illustrated in Figure 2. 276
277
Figure 2 Effect of incubation with Physisporinus vitreus on chemical composition of Norway spruce 278
sapwood (a) and heartwood (b). 279
In sapwood and heartwood the lignin degradation commences at almost equal rates and 280
shows absolute losses of -1.8% and -2% after 9 weeks incubation respectively. The xylan 281
reduction after 9 weeks was slightly lower in heartwood specimens (-0.6% SW > -0.4% 282
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HW) as well as the mannan loss (-1.6% SW > -1.2% HW). A difference was recorded for 283
cellulose degradation: in sapwood, the cellulose degradation proceeded very rapidly after 284
3 weeks incubation and showed a continuously strong reduction rate of -4% after 9 weeks 285
incubation. In contrast, the heartwood specimens showed a strong decrease after 3 and 5 286
weeks but then the degradation level remained stable with -2.2% after 7 and 9 weeks in- 287
cubation. 288
The relatively high reduction of cellulose in softwood appear to suggest a soft rot type I 289
and II in the latewood tracheids cell walls as shown by Lehringer et al. (2010a; 2010b). 290
However, results from microtensile tests (z-strength) did not reflect this stepwise reduction 291
(see Figure 1b). 292
The selectivity for lignin degradation can be expressed by the ratio of lignin loss/ cellulose 293
loss (Table 3, column 16). The ratio ranged around 0.5 for sapwood and between 0.3 and 294
0.9 for heartwood which indicates a rather low selectivity for lignin degradation. When Ha- 295
kala et al. (2004) conducted a study with 86 isolates of white rot fungi on Norway spruce at 296
10 weeks incubation, they found 17 strains that showed a selectivity ratio > 1.0, among 297
others also Physisporinus rivulosus T241i, showed a high selectivity for lignin degradation 298
(ratio 3.3). In the latter study wood specimens were incubated on vermiculite that is known 299
to posess a wide C/N-ratio and stimulates a range of white rot fungi (probably also P. vi- 300
treus) to cause a selective delignification (Lehringer et al. (2010a). The present study pro- 301
vides additional evidence that incubation of wood specimens on MEA (i.e with a narrow 302
C/N-ratio) as used in this work results in sub-optimal incubation conditions for a selec- 303
tive delignification or a selective pit membrane degradation (see also Dill and Kraepelin 304
(1988), Rios and Eyzaguirre (1992)) 305
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Table 3 Contents of lignin, composition of monomeric sugars in hydrolyzates and percent losses of wood constituents after incubation of 306
Norway spruce with Physisporinus vitreus. 307
Sapwood/
Heartwood
Incuba-
tion
time
(weeks)
Mass loss
(%)
Extraction yield (abs.%) Resulting losses (%)
Lignin* Gluc Xyl Man Ara Gal Ram
4-O-Me-
GluA
Lignin Cellulose Xylan Mannan
Selectivity
(%lignin loss /
%cellulose loss)
SW
Control - 26.5 50.1 5.6 12.8 1.1 1.1 0.1 0.6 - - - - -
3 0.1 0.1 26.5 49.0 5.4 12.6 1.1 1.1 0.1 0.6 -0.01 -0.9 -0.2 -0.4 0.01
5 1.8 0.2 25.9 48.3 5.2 12.0 1.2 1.0 0.1 0.7 -0.6 -1.4 -0.3 -1.1 0.46
7 5.5 0.3 25.0 46.3 4.9 11.4 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.6 -1.5 -2.9 -0.6 -1.8 0.5
9 8.2 0.6 24.7 45.2 4.9 11.7 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.6 -1.8 -4.0 -0.6 -1.6 0.45
HW
Control - 27.7 50.1 4.6 12.6 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.6 - - - - -
3 0.1 0.05 27.4 49.7 4.5 12.5 1.1 0.8 0.1 0.5 -0.3 -0.3 -0.1 -0.3 0.8
5 2.4 0.7 27.0 47.7 4.3 12.0 1.1 0.8 0.1 0.5 -0.7 -1.9 -0.2 -1.0 0.35
7 3.9 0.8 26.1 47.3 4.3 11.7 1.0 0.8 0.1 0.5 -1.6 -2.2 -0.3 -1.2 0.72
9 6 1.6 25.7 47.3 4.3 11.7 0.9 0.9 0.1 0.4 -2.0 -2.2 -0.4 -1.2 0.91
* Hydrolysis residue and acid soluble lignin 308
309
310
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4.3 FT-IR 311
The spectra normalized at bands corresponding to carbohydrates 1157, 1367, 1733 cm
-1
312
(Faix et al., (1991), Pandey and Pitman (2003; 2004)) did not show a clear trend for selec- 313
tive lignin degradation. Only discreet differences between the spectra from different incu- 314
bation times are discernable (Figure 3). 315
316
Figure 3 FT-IR spectra normalized at 1367 cm
-1
of Norway spruce sapwood (A) and heartwood (B) 317
after incubation with Physisporinus vitreus: (a) Control, (b) 3 weeks, (c) 5 weeks, (d) 7 weeks, (e) 9 318
weeks 319
The quantification of changes in the chemical structure did not provide consistent results. 320
The peak heights at 1507, 1596 and 1638 cm
-1
(representing modification of lignin) did not 321
reveal a constant reduction with increasing incubation periods. Moreover, the cellulose and 322
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hemicelluloses bands associated at wavenumber 1367 and 1733 cm
-1
did not remain at a 323
constant level but displayed sporadic decreases and increases. In order to obtain informa- 324
tion about the selectivity of wood decay, we calculated ratios with the main band intensities 325
(Table 4). Following Faix et al. (1991) the ratios of 1507/1638 and 1596/1638 cm
-1
326
(representing the modification of lignin) should show an inverse trend to the mass loss 327
when considerable changes in the lignin fraction would be detected. This is not the case. 328
Table 4 Mass loss and ratios of intensities associated with carbohydrates bands after incubation of 329
Norway spruce with Physisporinus vitreus. 330
Sapwood/
Heartwood
Incubation time
(weeks)
Mass loss
(%)
Relative intensities of aromatic skeletal vibra-
tion against bands for carbohydrates and lig-
nin modification
Average ratio
1507/1367
Average ratio
1507/1638
Average ratio
1596/1638
SW
Control - 1.43 0.95 0.72
3 0.1 0.1 1.21 0.65 0.62
5 1.8 0.2 0.99 0.60 0.66
7 5.5 0.3 1.23 0.74 0.69
9 8.2 0.6 1.16 0.66 0.68
HW
Control - 1.67 1.21 1.03
3 0.1 0.05 1.25 0.70 0.66
5 2.4 0.7 1.45 0.87 0.73
7 3.9 0.8 1.31 0.92 0.91
9 6 1.6 1.17 0.89 0.97
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The calculated retention for the ratio of 1507/1367 cm
-1
(lignin against carbohydrates) re- 331
vealed a slight trend of preferential delignification. But mass losses induced by P. vitreus 332
remained explicitly below 10%. In such case, the sensitivity of solid state FT-IR spectros- 333
copy is too low for a consistent and reproducible analysis. Results from comparable FT-IR 334
investigations (Faix et al. 1991; Pandey and Pitman 2003) showed mass losses between 335
23 and 56% and hence delivered clearly interpretable spectra. 336
Furthermore, lignin, hemicelluloses and cellulose were degraded simultaneously by P. vi- 337
treus (see Figure 2). Consequently, the cellulose assigned reference peaks are not stable 338
enough as reference for semiquantitative determination in this case. 339
340
Figure 4 Retention of wavenumber ratio 1507/1367 cm
-1
after incubation of Norway spruce with 341
Physisporinus vitreus. (*) = significant changes compared to control (zero weeks) 342
Hence, even though ANOVA plotted to significant differences (Figure 4), a consistent in- 343
terpretation of the data is questionable. A serious interpretation of FT-IR data was not 344
possible on the basis of the investigated material and no reliable confirmation of the results 345
from chemical analysis could be provided with this approach. 346
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5 Conclusions 347
Results from microtensile testing confirm the findings of previous studies (2010a; Lehring- 348
er et al. 2010b). Indications for a selective delignification and a simultaneous degradation 349
of lignin and carbohydrates can be drawn from zero span and finite span testing results. 350
Accordingly, chemical analysis displays the degradation of lignin, hemicelluloses and 351
even to a higher extent of cellulose. Hence, P. vitreus is a wood decay fungus that is 352
able to show different degradation patterns in the same substrate. However, it appears to 353
be a wood decay fungus with moderate degradation rates. 354
Incubation on MEA obviously triggered P. vitreus to induce both a selective delignification 355
and a simultaneous degradation, reflecting the degradation patterns of a white rot fungus 356
and soft rot type I and II. Thus, incubation with a wide C/N-ratio nutrient medium might be 357
favorable to increase selective delignification and pit membrane degradation. These find- 358
ings will be implemented in the future optimization of the incubation process for the bioin- 359
cising technology. 360
6 Acknowledgements 361
We thank for the highly productive discussions with Dr. K. Pandey concerning the evalua- 362
tion of the FT-IR-measurements. Moreover we express our gratitude to Markus Heeb 363
(Empa St. Gallen) for his skillful assistance during laboratory work. We also gratefully ac- 364
knowledge the professional contribution of Prof. Dr. F.W.M.R Schwarze during intensive 365
discussions and proofreading. 366
The present study emerged from the research project CTI.8593.1 LSPP-LS Bioincising of 367
conifer wood with Physisporinus vitreus to improve its treatability for a range of wood pre- 368
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servation and modification methods. The authors express their gratitude to the Swiss CTI 369
(Innovation Promotion Agency) for its financial support. 370
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476
477
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The author
Dipl.-Holzwirt Christian Lehringer
christianlehringer(at)gmx.ch
* 15
th
December 1976

Professional History
08/2007 02/2011 PhD-Student at Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Tech-
nology, Dbendorf, Switzerland with degree 'Dr. rer. nat.' (magna cum laude) at
Georg-August-University of Gttingen, Germany
10/2008 Leo-Schrghuber-Award for Diploma thesis, Munich, Germany
04/2007 07/2007 Scientific employee at the Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology (vTI),
Hamburg, Germany
Research in Juvenile Wood and structural characterization of wood
Study about wood as bio-energy source
08/2000 02/2007 Studies of wood science and technology with degree as Diplom-Holzwirt, University
of Hamburg, Germany
Diploma thesis Ultrastructural and topochemical investigations in the tension
wood of Acer (Acer spp.), Beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Oak (Quercus robur)
08/1997 09/2000 Education for Cabinet maker, Rendsburg, Germany

Publications
Lehringer, C., Gierlinger, N., Koch, G. (2008) Topochemical investigations on tension wood fibres of Acer spp., Fagus
sylvatica L. and Quercus robur L. Holzforschung 62: 255-263.
Lehringer, C., Daniel, G., Schmitt, U. (2009) TEM/FE-SEM studies on tension wood fibres of Acer spp., Fagus sylvatica L.
and Quercus robur L. Wood Sci. Technol. 43: 691-702.
Lehringer, C., Arnold, M., Richter, K., Schubert, M., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H. (2009) Bioincised wood as substrate
for surface modifications. 4th European Conference on Wood Modification, Stockholm: 197-200.
Lehringer, C., Richter, K., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H. (2009) A review on promising approaches for liquid permeabil-
ity improvement in softwoods. Wood Fiber Sci. 41: 373-385.
Lehringer, C., Hillebrand, K., Richter, K., Arnold, M., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Militz, H. (2010) Anatomy of bioincised Nor-
way spruce wood. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 64: 346-355.
Lehringer, C., Schwarze, F.W.M.R., Schubert, M., Arnold, M., Richter, K. (2010) Bioincising - Verbesserte Permeabilitt
des Holzes durch Pilzbehandlung. Bulletin Holzforschung Schweiz, Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft fr
Holzforschung SAH 18:5-7.
Schubert, M., Volkmer T., Lehringer, C., Schwarze, F.W.M.R. (2011) Resistance of bioincised wood treated with wood
preservatives to blue-stain and wood-decay fungi. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 65: 108-115.
Lehringer, C., Koch, G., Adusumalli, R.-B., Mook, W.M., Richter, K., Militz, H. (2011) Effect of Physisporinus vitreus on
wood properties of Norway spruce. Part 1: Aspects of delignification and surface hardness. Holzforschung 65:
in print.
Lehringer, C., Saake, B., ivkovi, V., Richter, K., Militz, H. (2011) Effect of Physisporinus vitreus on wood properties of
Norway spruce. Part 2: Aspects of microtensile strength and chemical changes. Holzforschung: submitted.

Zrich, 15
th
January 2011

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Permeability improvement of Norway spruce

wood with the white rot fungus

) to improve wood properties

(Clariant, Basel, Switzerland)

C (photographs from test series for Schwarze et al

Version 7 (Imagic Bildverarbeitung AG,

C and 75 5% RH. After

C and 65% RH). The control wood specimens

(Version 7.4 R2007a,

(Version 17.0, SPSS Inc.,

software (Zeiss, Jena, Germany). The scan program captures rectan-

software. For each specimen, five to seven

(Systat Software Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A P-value of -0.05 was

ivkovic, V., Richter, K., Militz, H. (2011)

(Bio-Chem Valve, Boonton, USA) emp- 168

(Digilab, Holliston, 188

(Systat Software Inc., Chicago, USA). A probability value 194

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