Recently, the architectural and physical properties of the fungus comb from subterranean termite Macrotermes gilvus Hagen (Isoptera: Termitidae) mounds had been studied and it is important to determine its chemical profile as well as to evaluate its anti-staining-fungi activity. The results showed that fungus comb of M. gilvus has a high crude ash (30.57%), fiber (25.46%), starch (7.76%), protein (5.80%, 5.53% amino acid), acid-insoluble ash (3.45%), and fat (0.73%). It also contained phenol hydroquinone, steroids, terpenoids, and saponin compounds. Seventeen amino acids were identified via high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, of which arginine, leucine, glutamate, and aspartic acid were the majority. According to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, the n-hexane extract consists of several types of fatty acid derivatives. Meanwhile, the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extracts were primarily phenol groups with 1,2,3-propanetriol (glycerol) at the highest relative concentration. Four fungus-comb extracts (n-hexane, EtOAc, MeOH, and water) inhibited the Aspergillus foetidus fungus, with inhibition rates ranging from 24.17% to 100% and EtOAc extract as the most active extract. It appears that EtOAc extracts from the M. gilvus fungus comb can be considered an active ingredient source of novel organic fungicide in preventing wood-staining fungi attacks on susceptible wood.

Nandika D, Arinana, Salman ABA, Putri JY. 2021. Morphological and molecular features of stain fungi infecting rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis). Biodiversitas 22: 5408-5416. In the southeast Asia region, particularly Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.) has been widely used as a raw material in various industries particularly furniture manufacturing. However, rubberwood is highly susceptible to fungal attack due to its lack of heartwood formation. A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the morphological and molecular features of stain fungi infecting rubberwood. A total of five isolates of stain fungi belonging to three genera were identified based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and morphological features. All isolates belong to Order Eurotiales with each genus being Paecilomyces, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. The highest growth rate on wood samples was shown by Aspergillus chevalieri section Aspergillus and Paecilomyces maximus or P. formosus with values of 86.57% and 86.22%, respectively. All of the stain fungi genera caused varied level of discoloration on wood samples with dark grayish and very dark grayish as the more frequent color found. Quantitatively, the highest discoloration was shown by A. chevalieri section Aspergillus (?E = 27.60) and P. maximus or P. formosus (?E = 16.69). These species can be considered as newly stain fungi recorded infecting rubberwood in Indonesia. In addition, discoloration caused by these two stain fungi was the worst.

The Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology (JKWST) launched in 1973 as an official publication of the Korean Society of Wood Science and Technology has been served as a core of knowledges on wood science and technology.

Population Survey of Subterranean Termite Coptotermes curvignathus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) on Infested Pine Boards

Gewang (Corypha utan Lamk.) is one of the endemic palm species which has been used as a building material for many years in Indonesia. The objective of this study was to enhance the overall resistance of gewang wood to biological deterioration by using smoke treatment. Samples taken from different parts of the trunks, namely bottom, middle, and upper parts in a longitudinal direction and outer and inner parts in a transversal direction, were exposed to the smoking process. Discoloration, dry-wood termite (Cryptotemes cynocephalus) and fungi (Schizophyllumcommune) resistance of smoked samples were determined according to the Indonesian standard. Based on the findings in this work, discoloration of smoked specimens was more prominent than that of the unsmoked samples. Overall termite and decay resistance of smoked samples were enhanced and higher than those of unsmoked samples without any influence of longitudinal and transversal orientations within the trunks. It appears that smoking can be considered as a potential method to improve decay and termite resistances of gewang wood.