Influence of soil on wood-degradation and fruit body formation by parasites and saprophytes among wood-destroying basidiomycetous fungi.

Formation of soil mycelium enables the fungal mycelium to amend the nutrient-deficient wood substrate actively by enclosing macronutrients from soil. Supposition to formation of a soil mycelium proved the resistance of the fungus to competitive substrate microorganisms. This resistance is absent in pathogenic, but wide-spread in saprophytic wood-decay fungi. Consequently, production of soil mycelium was restricted to saprophytic fungi. Saprophytes of the white-rot type are superior to brown-cubical rot type fungi in forming soil mycelium and utilizing soil nutrients. However, rich soils stimulate a more limited degree of wood degradation and yield increase of basidiocarps in parasitic fungi, too, that fail to produce a soil mycelium. It is concluded that uptake of soil nutrients turns out in two different ways, via an actively absorbing soil mycelium and via passive nutrient diffusion from soil into the substrate wood.