Black fungi help protect wood, but it’s useless to you.

Research conducted, by a (poor) PHD candidate, in Norway and in the Netherlands finds a fungus that can protect wood from rotting.

Three different types of wood were infused with three different types of oil in two different countries to look for the best combinations for fungal growth. ( I would hate to do the statistics on this).
Three different types of wood were infused with three different types of oil in two different countries to look for the best combinations for fungal growth. ( I would hate to do the statistics on this).

Research conducted, by a (poor) PHD candidate, in Norway and in the Netherlands finds a fungus that can protect wood from rotting. This fungus seems to protect it from other fungi by its dense growth habit as well as protect it from the suns UV rays thanks to its dark pigmentation. The caveat is that it does not always have the dark pigmentation, and you apparently need to infuse any wood you want to protect with olive oil to get it to grow; on top of that it seems to take a long time to form the protective layer, months to years if the oil is just applied on the exterior. Based on the article the fungal layer may be a single fungus, Aureobasidium spp, or it maybe multiple fungi. It was unclear which was the case. 

Sources:

  1. Black fungi protect wood from wood rot
  2. Olive oil and fungus protect wood from wood rot

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