Isolation and identification of fungi with potential for biological stump removal of eucalyptus spp.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and evaluate the decay capability of fungi that occur naturally in eucalyptus plantations of three cities in Espírito Santo state, Brazil. Hence, discs from deteriorated stumps were collected and samples isolatied to obtain pure fungal cultures. An experiment using Petri dishes with malt-agar medium and eucalyptus sapwood was performed in order to test the decay of each isolate. The experiment was evaluated by mass loss every four weeks during a total of 20 weeks. Fungi with decay capability were selected and identified via extraction of genomic DNA. Seven isolates were identified: Penicillium implicatum, Resinicium confertum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Cladosporium sp., Penicillium sp., Trichoderma citrinoviride and Acremonium sp. Isolation and identification of fungi from eucalyptus stumps provided naturally occurring decay fungi that inhabit the eucalyptus plantations that were adapted for this study.