Effects of exogenous calcium or oxalic acid on Pinus taeda treatment with the white-rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora

Abstract: Pinus taeda wood chips were treated with the biopulping fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora in calcium- or oxalic acid-amended cultures. The secretion of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes was inhibited only in the cultures having the highest concentration of calcium (1400 mg kg−1 wood). Calcium decreased the availability of free oxalic acid, inhibited fungal growth, and reduced lignin mineralization and transformations. Oxalic acid amendment in the cultures was found not to affect the lignin mineralization and transformations; however, it did inhibit the depolymerization reactions detectable in the residual lignin that was retained in the biotreated wood. C. subvermispora presented catabolic activity for oxalic acid in the cultures amended with 1660 mg acid kg−1 wood, whereas oxalic acid was synthesized when it was amended at low amounts or initially absent in the cultures. These data suggest one ideal ratio of oxalic acid in C. subvermispora cultures and indicate that its exogenous addition does not necessarily accompany the further degradation of lignin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]