An updated checklist of wood decay fungi in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

Wood-decaying fungi are very important study subjects for their potential biotechnology applications. They can also create structural damage to wooden structures and to trees, especially older ones with very low level of fitness. White-rot fungi (WRF) are able to degrade lignin efficiently through ligninmodifying enzymes, in contrast to brown-rot fungi (BRF) which can predominantly degrade cellulose and hemicellulose through cellulasedegrading enzymes. Soft-rot fungi (SRF) differ from brown-rot and whiterot by growing mainly inside the S2 layer of the cell wall in wood forming tissue and colonize via the wood rays. Studies of wood decay fungal diversity on trees growing in the Maltese Islands are limited to incomplete records described by handful of authors. The aim of the project was to provide an updated checklist of confirmed records of wood decay fungi occurring on indigenous and exotic phanerophytes.