FUNGAL DEGRADATION METHOD DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL WOOD SAMPLES SUBJECTED TO CERIPORIOPSIS SUBVERMISPORA

Fungal pretreatment has been explored as a low-cost and an environmentally friendly method to increase the reactivity of lignocellulosic biomass prior to further processing for pulp and paper, biofuels, and biochemicals. Testing of genetically modified wood specimens is becoming increasing popular due to advances in the field of biomass research and the potential to greatly enhance the wood’s chemical and physical properties. However, experimental methods for small juvenile wood specimens is not well characterized. This research utilized sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) to examine several variables in the inoculation and incubation procedure of small wood specimens degraded by white-rot fungus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, to find which method results in a sufficient amount of biomass degradation and low variation between replicates. The variables examined include inoculation medium, wood particle size, and incubation container. Increased fungal growth, weight loss values, and significant reduction in variation of weight loss were observed when using the malt extract fungal culture to directly inoculate the wood samples and closing with loose caps, instead of filtering, rinsing, and suspending the mycelium and sealing with Parafilm