Serpula lacrymans, Wood and Buildings

• Published in: Advances in Applied Microbiology Vol. 78; pp. 121 - 149
• Main Authors: Watkinson, S.C., Eastwood, D.C.
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Science & Technology 2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agaricomycetes; Basidiomycota - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; building dry rot, Serpula lacrymans; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungi; Lignin - metabolism; Microbiology; Mycelium; Wood; Wood decomposing enzymes; Wood decomposing enzymes; building dry rot, Serpula lacrymans; Agaricomycetes; Wood; Applied microbiology
• ISBN: 9780123948052; 0123948053
• ISSN: 0065-2164
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394805-2.00005-1

Serpula lacrymans, the causative agent of dry rot timber decay in buildings, is a Basidiomycete fungus in the Boletales clade. It owes its destructiveness to a uniquely well-developed capacity to colonize by rapid mycelial spread from sites of initial spore infection, coupled with aggressive degradation of wood cellulose. Genomic methods have recently elucidated the evolution and enzymic repertoire of the fungus, suggesting that it has a distinctive mode of brown rot wood decay. Using novel methods to image nutrient translocation, its mycelium has been modeled as a highly responsive resource-supply network. Dry rot is preventable by keeping timber dry. However, in established outbreaks, further mycelial spread can be arrested by inhibitors of translocation.