WOOD EXTRACTIVES IN RADIATA PINE ARE THE SOURCE OF THE OBSERVED PITCH PROBLEMS IN THE PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY. VARIOUS METHODOLOGIES HAVE BEEN STUDIED AND USED TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS. A BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT WITH ALBINO FUNGI OF THE OPHIOSTOMA GENUS, FUNGI THAT DEGRADE THE LIPIDIC COMPONENTS OF EXTRACTIVES, HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS A MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE FOR PITCH DEGRADATION. THE CURRENT METHODS USED TO SEARCH FOR OPHIOSTOMA ALBINO STRAINS WITH THE HIGHEST DEGRADATION RATES OF WOOD EXTRACTIVES ARE LABOR INTENSIVE AND REQUIRE A LARGE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES. THE TWEEN 80® OPACITY TEST, AN ASSAY DESIGNED TO MEASURE LIPOLYTIC ENZYME ACTIVITY IN FILAMENTOUS FUNGI, WAS STUDIED TO VERIFY THE FEASIBILITY OF ITS APPLICATION AS A METHODOLOGY TO RANK OPHIOSTOMA ALBINO STRAINS WITH DERESINATION CAPABILITIES. THE TWEEN 80® OPACITY TEST WAS FIRST CHARACTERIZED BY IMPLEMENTING A NON-REPLICATED 2K-P FRACTIONAL FACTORIAL DESIGN OF RESOLUTION V FOR A 5 FACTORS WITH 16 TREATMENTS AND THEN TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF THE FUNGUS SPECIES ON THE LIPOLYTIC ENZYME ACTIVITY; A RANDOMIZED ONE FACTOR GENERAL FACTORIAL DESIGN WAS CONDUCTED. THE INCUBATION TEMPERATURE; ANTIBIOTICS PRESENCE; AND TWEEN 80®, CACL2 , AND PEPTONE CONCENTRATIONS WERE INVESTIGATED IN THE FIRST EXPERIMENT. THE OPHIOSTOMA SPECIES EFFECT WAS STUDIED IN THE SECOND EXPERIMENT. IN BOTH EXPERIMENTS, THE HALO AREA SIZE, WHICH WAS FORMED BY THE FATTY ACID-CALCIUM COMPLEX PRECIPITATE, WAS THE RESPONSE VARIABLE. THE RESULTS DEMONSTRATED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TWEEN 80® OPACITY TEST TO MEASURE THE LIPOLYTIC ENZYME ACTIVITY OF OPHIOSTOMA ALBINO STRAINS. SIMILARLY, THE INCUBATION TEMPERATURE AND THE CONCENTRATIONS OF TWEEN 80®, CACL2 , AND BACTERIOLOGICAL PEPTONE HAD THE HIGHEST STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE RESPONSE VARIABLE. IN ADDITION, OUR DATA DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ALBINO STRAINS FROM THE SPECIE O. FLOCCOSUM EXHIBITED THE HIGHEST RATE OF LIPOLYTIC ENZYME PRODUCTION.

ALBINO STRAINS OF OPHIOSTOMA PILIFERUM, OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE AND OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM USED AS SINGLE STRAIN AND IN MIXTURES ARE TESTED FOR THEIR ABILITIES TO INCREASE THE PERMEABILITY OF RADIATA PINE SAPWOOD AFTER 2 AND 4 WEEKS OF INCUBATION. THE BIO-TREATMENTS YIELDED PERMEABILITY INCREMENTS UP TO 1.9 AND 2.4 TIMES CONTROLS AFTER 2 AND 4 WEEKS, RESPECTIVELY. THE FUNGUS TYPE INVOLVED IN THE TREATMENTS AS WELL AS THE INCUBATION TIME APPEARED AS SIGNIFICANT FACTORS. RESULTS ALSO SUGGEST THAT COMBINATIONS OF ALBINO OPHIOSTOMA SPP. FUNGI COULD INCREASE PERMEABILITY TO HIGHER LEVELS THAN INDIVIDUAL ONES, HINTING AT A POSSIBLE SYNERGISTIC RELATIONSHIP AMONG THEM. FURTHERMORE, TREATMENTS WITH A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF O. FLOCCOSUM SEEM PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL. SIMULTANEOUSLY TO THE INCREMENT OF PERMEABILITY SUCH BIO-TREATMENT MIGHT ALSO OFFER PROTECTION AGAINST BLUE SAP-STAIN. FURTHER RESEARCH IS RECOMMENDED TO REFINE AND FIND AN OPTIMUM TIME OF INCUBATION, AS WELL AS THE MOST EFFECTIVE COMBINATION AND CONCENTRATION OF FUNGI.

THE USE OF WOOD IN CONSTRUCTION HAS BEEN PART OF MANKIND'S HISTORY BUT WOOD PLACED INTO THE ENVIRONMENT IS AFFECTED BY BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC AGENTS AND IS DEGRADED OVER TIME. EVEN IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS, SUCH AS DRY DESERT SITES, DETERIORATION OF WOOD CAN TAKE PLACE. ONE SITE LOCATED IN THE ATACAMA DESERT IN NORTHERN CHILE IS THE HUMBERSTONE AND SANTA LAURA SALTPETER WORKS WHERE OFFICES AND OTHER STRUCTURES WERE BUILT OF WOOD. FOUNDED IN 1872, THE HUMBERSTONE AND SANTA LAURA SALTPETER WORKS WAS DESIGNATED A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN 2005 FOR ITS HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE. SINCE SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION IN THE WOODEN BUILDINGS HAS TAKEN PLACE, INVESTIGATIONS WERE INITIATED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE DEGRADATION UNDERWAY SO CONSERVATION EFFORTS TO PROTECT THE HISTORIC BUILDINGS CAN BE DEVELOPED. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY WERE TO IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF DETERIORATION AND DECAY TAKING PLACE AND TO ISOLATE AND IDENTIFY FUNGI FROM WOOD SAMPLES OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS AT BOTH SITES. SAMPLES OF DETERIORATED WOOD SHOWED EXTENSIVE DEGRADATION THAT RESULTED IN A DEFIBRATION OF THE WOOD. THE MIDDLE LAMELLA BETWEEN CELLS WAS DEGRADED AND REMAINING SECONDARY WALLS SEPARATED DUE TO HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF SALTS. THIS RESULTED IN A SERIOUS CORROSION OF THE EXTERIOR LAYERS OF WOOD CELLS. ALTHOUGH HIGH SALTS INHIBIT FUNGI, MANY DIFFERENT FUNGI WERE ISOLATED. SEQUENCING OF THE ITS REGION OF THE RDNA WAS USED AND FUNGI WERE IDENTIFIED AS PENICILLIUM CHRYSOGENUM, ENGYODONTIUM ALBUM, EUPENICILLIUM TROPICUM, PENICILLIUM DIGITATUM, PSEUDOTAENIOLINA GLOBOSA, CLADOSPORIUM PHAENOCOMAE, AUREOBASIDIUM PULLULANS, PENICILLIUM VIRGATUM, COPRINOPSIS SP. AND PHANEROCHAETE SORDIDA. SEVERAL OF THESE FUNGI APPEAR TO BE HALOPHILIC.

IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED THE POTENTIAL OF POLYURETHANE FOAMS (LPUF) PREPARED FROM LESQUERELLA FENDLERI (A. GREY) OIL-DERIVED POLYOL TO USE AS AN ECOLOGICAL AND CHEAP SUBSTITUTE FOR THE PETROLEUM-BASED POLYURETHANE FOAMS. THE POLYOL WAS SYNTHESIZED BY A ONE-SINGLE STEP REACTION USING A MIXTURE OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND ACETIC ACID. THE L. FENDLERI OIL AND THE SYNTHETIZED POLYOL WERE CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR PHYSICAL?CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AS WELL AS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, IODINE VALUE, YIELD, SAPONIFICATION NUMBER, KINEMATIC VISCOSITY, DENSITY, THEORICAL MOLECULAR WEIGHT, HYDROXYL NUMBER, 1H AND 13C NMR SPECTROSCOPY, ATTENUATED TOTAL REFLECTANCE FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED (ATR-FTIR) AND THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS (TGA). THE OBTAINED L. FENDLERI OIL-BASED POLYOL REACTED WITH AROMATIC DIPHENYLMETHANE DIISOCYANATE IN THE PRESENCE OF WATER, N,N,N?,N??,N??-PENTAMETHYLDIETHYLENETRIAMINE, STANNOUS 2-ETHYLHEXANOATE AND SILICONE, WHICH WERE USED AS A BLOWING AGENT, CATALYSTS AND SURFACTANT, RESPECTIVELY, TO PRODUCE LPUF. THE EFFECTS OF THE AMOUNT OF DIPHENYLMETHANE DIISOCYANATE ON APPARENT DENSITY VALUES, COMPRESSION TEST, AND THE AVERAGE PORE SIZE OF LPUFS PROPERTY WERE STUDIED. THE RESULTS REVEALED THAT ALL THESE PROPERTIES ARE CORRELATED WITH THE MDI AMOUNT. THE ATR-FTIR, TGA, SEM AND SELECTIVE DEGRADATION TEST WERE PERFORMED FOR THE LPUFS, WHICH REVEALED THAT THE FOAM FORMATIONS WERE SUCCESSFUL. WE OBTAINED A MACROPOROUS STRUCTURE WITH A COMBINATION OF BOTH OPEN AND CLOSED CELLS THAT IS MORE THERMORESISTANT THAN THE PRECURSORS WITH DEGRADATION PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM HYDROXYLATED LESQUEROLIC (MAJOR) AND LINOLENIC (MINOR) ACIDS.

THE SANTA LAURA SALTPETER WORK, WHICH IS NOWADAYS THE PLACE WHERE THE MOST COMPLETE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE NITRATE PROCESSING PERIOD IS MAINTAINED, HAS A LEACHING TOWER THAT IS CONSIDERED BY ITS UNIQUENESS, THE ICON OF THE FORMER NITRATE INDUSTRY IN CHILE. THIS IMPRESSIVE STRUCTURE, BUILT MOSTLY IN OREGON PINE WOOD (PSEUDOTSUGA MENZIESII) WITH METAL JUNCTIONS, UNFORTUNATELY BEARS, AFTER THE PLANT STOPPED PRODUCING NITRATE AND IODINE, THE IMPACT OF ITS PRODUCTIVE PAST AND SUBSEQUENT HUMAN ACTIONS BECAUSE OF NEGLECT AND LACK OF MAINTENANCE. THIS REPORT, BASED ON A VISUAL, INSTRUMENTAL AND STRUCTURAL INSPECTION, IS A DIAGNOSIS OF THE CURRENT CONDITION OF THE BUILDING. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE ELEMENTS OF THE STRUCTURE, WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS, ARE IN GOOD CONDITION AND WITHOUT CHANGES IN THEIR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS DETERMINED THAT THE PLANT BEHAVIOR IS FAVORABLE, BEING ABLE TO WITHSTAND A SEISMIC EVENT OF IMPORTANCE.

WOOD EXTRACTIVES PROMOTE PITCH FORMATION DURING PULP AND PAPER MANUFACTURING. TO DATE, THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN CONTROLLED BY EXTENDED STORAGE OF THE CHIPS AND/OR CHEMICAL ADDITIVES. BIOTREATMENT OF THE WOOD PRIOR TO PULPING PROVIDES AN ALTERNATIVE THAT NOT ONLY DECREASES THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THE EXTRACTIVES BUT MAY ALSO IMPROVE THE KRAFT PULPING EFFICIENCY. THIS INITIATIVE SEEKS TO VERIFY THE QUANTITY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EUCALYPTUS NITENS WOOD EXTRACTIVES FOLLOWING BIOTREATMENT WITH THREE ALBINO FUNGI SPECIES (OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM, OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE AND OPHIOSTOMA PILIFERUM). EUCALYPTUS NITENS WOOD CHIPS WERE SPRAYED WITH SPORE SUSPENSIONS OF OPHIOSTOMA PILIFERUM, OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE AND OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM ALBINO STRAINS (1 × 108 SPORE CONCENTRATION). AFTER 7 AND 21 DAYS OF FUNGAL TREATMENT, THE EXTRACTIVE CONTENT WAS DETERMINED VIA SOXHLET EXTRACTION WITH AN 80:20% N-HEXANE:ETHYL ACETATE SOLVENT MIXTURE. THE OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM F1A94, OPHIOSTOMA PILIFERUM F2D8 AND OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE F2A68 STRAINS PROVED TO BE MOST CAPABLE OF BIOREDUCTION WITH REDUCTIONS OF 35,1%, 33,2% AND 29,3%, RESPECTIVELY. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE EXTRACT WAS ANALYZED VIA GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY, WHICH DEMONSTRATED THAT MOST OF THE TESTED STRAINS COULD REDUCE THE ?- SITOSTEROL CONTENT.

OPHIOSTOMA FUNGI PROMOTE THE OCCURRENCE OF BLUE STAIN IN CONIFEROUS WOOD, AFFECTING THE APPEARANCE WOOD PRODUCTS QUALITY. THUS, DIFFERENT CHEMICAL PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL THEM. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THESE SAPSTAINING FUNGI, USING ALBINO STRAINS OF OPHIOSTOMA LOOKS LIKE A SUCCESSFULLY ALTERNATIVE TO BE APPLIED. HOWEVER, SOME OPHIOSTOMA STRAINS PRESENT A DIMORPHIC BEHAVIOR IN LIQUID CULTURE, WHICH MAKE THEM DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH. FUNGAL DIMORPHISM IS DEFINED AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY AND CHEMICALLY CONTROLLED, REVERSIBLE TRANSFORMATION OF THE YEAST AND MYCELIA MORPHOLOGIES. IN THIS RESEARCH, A TWO LEVEL FACTORIAL DESIGN WAS APPLIED FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF FOUR OPERATIVE VARIABLES ON ALBINO STRAIN PCF2A29 (OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE (MÜNCH) H. & P. SYD.) YEAST-LIKE GROWTH A COMPLEX LIQUID MEDIUM. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT INOCULUM SIZE, TEMPERATURE AND THEIR INTERACTION HAD A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON YEAST-LIKE GROWTH OF ALBINO STRAIN PCF2A29. THE MOST IMPORTANT EFFECT WAS INOCULUM SIZE. THIS FACTOR EXPLAINED 53% OF THE OBSERVED VARIABILITY. THE EFFECT OF INOCULUM SIZE ON YEAST-LIKE GROWTH, PHENOMENON THAT IS DESCRIBED IN THE O. PICEAE SPECIES BY THE FIRST TIME WITH THIS PAPER, WOULD BE ASSOCIATED TO QUORUM SENSING ACTIVITY.

BLUE STAIN IN PINUS RADIATA D. DON WOOD IS PREDOMINANTLY CAUSED BY OPHIOSTOMA GENUS FUNGI. STAINED WOOD CAUSES SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC LOSSES TO FORESTRY AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES. CURRENTLY, DIFFERENT CHEMICAL FUNGICIDES ARE USED TO PREVENT THE OCCURRENCE OF BLUE STAIN FUNGI. HOWEVER, RECENT REPORTS HAVE QUESTIONED THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLINESS OF THESE FUNGICIDES. FOR THIS REASON, THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, IN PARTICULAR WITH ALBINO STRAINS OF THE OPHIOSTOMA GENUS, APPEARS TO BE AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE AND A TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO WORK WITH. THE POTENTIAL FIELD APPLICATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY WOULD USE A FORMULATION CONTAINING THE ALBINO FUNGUS-THE BIOACTIVE INGREDIENT- IN ITS YEAST LIKE FORM. HOWEVER, SOME OPHIOSTOMA STRAINS CULTURES PRESENT A MARKED FILAMENTOUS MORPHOLOGY IN LIQUID CULTURE MEDIUM, AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY IN THE PRODUCTION OF THE BIOACTIVE INGREDIENT. THE HYPOTHESIS OF THIS WORK PRESUMED THE POSSIBILITY TO CONTROL THE MORPHOLOGY OF OPHIOSTOMA CULTURES, THROUGH THE MODIFICATION OF GROWTH CONDITIONS IN LIQUID MEDIUM. THE EFFECT OF INOCULUM SIZE, GROWTH TEMPERATURE AND AGITATION RATE ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF PCF2A29 OPHIOSTOMA PICEAE AND FLF1A55 OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM ALBINO STRAINS IN LIQUID CULTURE MEDIUM, WAS STUDIED. A 23 FACTORIAL DESIGN WAS EMPLOYED. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE INITIAL INOCULUM SIZE HAD A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON YEAST-LIKE GROWTH MORPHOLOGY IN BOTH STRAINS, WHEREAS THE TEMPERATURE ONLY PRODUCED A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT IN PCF2A29 O. PICEAE STRAIN.

THE MORPHOLOGY AND THERMO-MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RECYCLED POLYSTYRENE-BASED MATERIALS (RPS) REINFORCED WITH 5 AND 15% LIGNIN FROM KRAFT PULPING OF EUCALYPTUS NITENS WERE STUDIED. THE LIGNIN WAS MODIFIED THROUGH TWO ESTERIFICATION PROCESSES USING EITHER ACETIC OR MALEIC ANHYDRIDE, AND CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE ESTERIFIED LIGNIN FUNCTIONAL GROUPS WERE ANALYZED BY FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY. THE LIGNIN WAS THEN INCORPORATED INTO RPS BY MELT MIXING. TORQUE VARIATION IN THE PROCESS WAS EVALUATED, AND THE VALUES WERE COMPARED TO THOSE OF NEAT RPS AND VIRGIN PS. THE RESULTS SHOW A PLASTICIZING EFFECT OF LIGNIN WITH A REDUCTION IN THE TORQUE VALUES. THE MORPHOLOGY, STUDIED THROUGH SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, SHOWS A PARTICLE SIZE REDUCTION OF ACETYLATED AND MALEATED LIGNIN AND A MORE HOMOGENEOUS DISPERSION AT 5%. THE THERMAL BEHAVIOR OF THE COMPOSITES, STUDIED THROUGH DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY, DOES NOT SHOW SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE GLASS-TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF RPS WITH THE PRESENCE OF LIGNIN. THE DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS SHOWS AN INCREASING STORAGE MODULUS WITH INCREASING LIGNIN CONTENT. THERMAL STABILITY, STUDIED THROUGH THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS, IMPROVED FOR COMPOSITES CONTAINING 5% ESTERIFIED LIGNIN. THE FLEXURAL MODULUS ALSO INCREASED WITH LIGNIN ADDITION. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED POLYSTYRENE CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED WITH ONLY 5% ESTERIFIED LIGNIN.

THE USE OF WOOD IN CONSTRUCTION HAS HAD A LONG HISTORY AND CHILE HAS A RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE OF USING NATIVE WOODS FOR BUILDING CHURCHES AND OTHER IMPORTANT STRUCTURES. IN 2000, UNESCO DESIGNATED A NUMBER OF THE HISTORIC CHURCHES OF CHILOÉ, BUILT ENTIRELY OF NATIVE WOODS, AS WORLD HERITAGE SITES. THESE UNIQUE CHURCHES WERE BUILT IN THE LATE 1700 S AND THROUGHOUT THE 1800 S, AND BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE AND EXPOSURE TO THE ENVIRONMENT, THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND TO HAVE SERIOUS DETERIORATION PROBLEMS. EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THESE DECAY PROCESSES AND TO CARRYOUT CONSERVATION EFFORTS FOR THE LONG-TERM PRESERVATION OF THESE IMPORTANT STRUCTURES. THIS STUDY CHARACTERIZED THE TYPES OF DEGRADATION TAKING PLACE AND IDENTIFIED THE WOOD DECAY FUNGI OBTAINED FROM EIGHT HISTORIC CHURCHES IN CHILOÉ, SEVEN OF THEM DESIGNATED AS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES. MICROMORPHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IDENTIFIED WHITE, BROWN AND SOFT ROT IN THE STRUCTURAL WOODS AND ISOLATIONS PROVIDED PURE CULTURES OF FUNGI THAT WERE IDENTIFIED BY SEQUENCING OF THE INTERNAL TRANSCRIBED REGION OF RDNA. TWENTY-NINE BASIDIOMYCOTA AND 18 ASCOMYCOTA WERE FOUND. THESE DIVERSE GROUPS OF FUNGI REPRESENT SEVERAL GENERA AND SPECIES NOT PREVIOUSLY REPORTED FROM CHILE AND DEMONSTRATES A VARIED MICROFLORA IS CAUSING DECAY IN THESE HISTORIC BUILDINGS.

QUORUM SENSING (QS) ACTIVITY IN OPHIOSTOMA FUNGI HAS NOT BEEN DESCRIBED. WE HAVE EXAMINED THE GROWTH CONDITIONS ON THE CONTROL OF DIMORPHISM IN OPHIOSTOMA FLOCCOSUM, AN ATTRACTIVE BIOCONTROL AGENT AGAINST BLUE-STAIN FUNGI, AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH QS ACTIVITY. IN A DEFINED CULTURE MEDIUM WITH L-PROLINE AS THE N SOURCE, A HIGH INOCULUM SIZE (10(7) C.F.U. ML(-1)) WAS THE PRINCIPAL FACTOR THAT PROMOTED YEAST-LIKE GROWTH. INOCULUM SIZE EFFECT CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE SECRETION OF A QS MOLECULE(S) (QSMS) RESPONSIBLE FOR INDUCING YEAST MORPHOLOGY. QSM CANDIDATES WERE EXTRACTED FROM SPENT MEDIUM AND THEIR STRUCTURE WAS DETERMINED BY GC-MS. THREE CYCLIC SESQUITERPENES WERE FOUND. THE MOST ABUNDANT MOLECULE, AND THEREFORE THE PRINCIPAL CANDIDATE TO BE THE QSM RESPONSIBLE FOR YEAST GROWTH OF O. FLOCCOSUM, WAS 1,1,4A-TRIMETHYL-5,6-DIMETHYLENE-DECALIN (C15H24). OTHER TWO COMPOUNDS WERE ALSO DETECTED.

FOR OPHIOSTOMA (CERATOCYSTIS) ULMI, THE ABILITY TO UNDERGO MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR FOR ITS VIRULENCE. TO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF QUORUM-SENSING ACTIVITY IN O. ULMI AS IT RELATES TO YEAST-MYCELIUM DIMORPHISM CONTROL, THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE EFFECTS OF BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACIDS AS WELL AS THEIR FUSEL ALCOHOLS AND FUSEL ACIDS AS QUORUM SENSING MOLECULES. METHODS AND RESULTS: IN A DEFINED MEDIUM CONTAINING GLUCOSE, PROLINE AND SALTS, O. ULMI GREW AS YEASTS WHEN THE CULTURE WAS INOCULATED WITH A HIGH DENSITY OF SPORES (2 × 10(7) CFU ML(-1) ) AND AS MYCELIA WHEN INOCULATED WITH A LOW SPORE DENSITY (4 × 10(5) CFU ML(-1) ). THE CULTURES DISPLAYING YEAST MORPHOLOGY SECRETED A QUORUM-SENSING FACTOR THAT SHIFTED THE MORPHOLOGY FROM MYCELIA TO YEAST. THIS QUORUM-SENSING MOLECULE WAS LIPOPHILIC AND EXTRACTABLE BY ORGANIC SOLVENTS FROM THE SPENT MEDIUM. USING GC/MS ANALYSIS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE MAJOR COMPOUND IN THE EXTRACT WAS 2-METHYL-1-BUTANOL. A SIMILAR EFFECT WAS OBSERVED WHEN THE BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (FUSEL ALCOHOL PRECURSORS) WERE USED AS THE NITROGEN SOURCE. E, E-FARNESOL HAD NO EFFECT ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF O. ULMI. CONCLUSIONS: ADDITION OF THE BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACIDS OR ONE OF THE COMPOUNDS DETECTED IN THE SPENT MEDIUM, 2-METHYL-1-BUTANOL OR 4-HYDROXYPHENYLACETIC ACID, OR METHYLVALERIC ACID, DECREASED GERM TUBE FORMATION BY MORE THAN 50%, THUS DEMONSTRATING A QUORUM SENSING MOLECULE BEHAVIOUR IN O. ULMI CULTURES. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: THIS STUDY PRESENTS ADVANCES IN THE INVESTIGATION OF DIMORPHISM IN O. ULMI, COMPLEMENTING THE EXISTING SCIENTIFIC BASIS, FOR STUDYING, UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING THIS PHENOMENON.

RADIATA PINE IS THE MAIN WOOD SPECIES USED IN THE CHILEAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, BUT IT MUST BE PROTECTED DUE TO ITS LOW NATURAL DURABILITY. CHEMICAL PROTECTION OF WOOD BY IMPREGNATION ALLOWS FOR A MORE EFFICIENT UTILIZATION OF THE FOREST RESOURCES BY EXTENDING ITS USEFUL LIFE. THE USE OF NANOPARTICLES IN WOOD PROTECTION HAS GARNERED GREAT INTEREST DURING THE LAST DECADE, DUE TO THEIR UNIQUE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES, DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF LARGER SIZED MATERIALS. IN THIS RESEARCH, THE IMPREGNATION OF RADIATA PINE WOOD WITH COPPER NANOPARTICLES (CUNP) WAS STUDIED IN TERMS OF RETENTION, PENETRATION, LEACHING, AND ITS PROTECTIVE EFFECT AGAINST WOOD ROT FUNGI GROWTH ACCORDING TO EN 113, AWPA A3-91, A9-18, AND E11-16. PENETRATION ANALYSIS CONFIRMED A UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE WOOD, WITH TOTAL PENETRATION IN THE IMPREGNATED SAMPLES WITH THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION SOLUTION OF CUNP. RETENTION VALUES OF THE IMPREGNATED WOOD INCREASED PROPORTIONALLY WITH THE CONCENTRATION OF NANOPARTICLES EVALUATED BY EDXRF. LEACHING ANALYSIS SHOWED COPPER REMOVAL DURING THE FIRST HOURS OF THE TEST, WITH A CONSTANT LEACHING RATE UP TO 144 H. IMPREGNATED WOOD MASS LOSS (ML) DUE TO EXPOSURE TO GLOEOPHYLLUM TRABEUM AND RHODONIA PLACENTA FUNGI WERE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED REGARDLESS OF THE CUNP CONCENTRATION OR FUNGI TESTED, WITH AN ML SMALLER THAN 5% AND SMALLER THAN 14% FOR LEACHED SAMPLES.

THRAUSTOCHYTRIDS ARE UNICELLULAR HETEROTROPHIC MARINE PROTISTS THAT HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED AS PRODUCING A HIGH CONTENT OF POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (PUFAS). AMONG THEM, ARACHIDONIC ACID (ARA) STANDS OUT AS A PRECURSOR OF SEVERAL MEDIATORS OF PIVOTAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THE BIOTECHNOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THRAUSTOCHYTRIDS FOR ARA PRODUCTION HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO ISOLATE AND IDENTIFY NATIVE STRAINS FROM DIFFERENT CHILEAN COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS AND EVALUATE IN VITRO THE EFFECT OF CULTURE PARAMETERS SUCH AS C/N RATIO (19 AND 33) AND TEMPERATURE (15 °C AND 23 °C) ON BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND ARACHIDONIC ACID CONTENT. A TOTAL OF NINE STRAINS WERE IDENTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR GENERA OF THE THRAUSTOCHITRIDAE FAMILY. THE LNG2 STRAIN WITH 99% IDENTITY BELONGS TO THE SPECIES ULKENIA VISURGENIS AND WAS THE MOST PROMINENT ONE FOR ARA PRODUCTION. TEMPERATURE HAD AN EFFECT ON THE PUFA PROFILE BUT NOT ON THE ARA CONTENT NOR ON THE BIOMASS YIELD. ADDITIONALLY, THE C/N RATIO HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A KEY PARAMETER. THE ARA PRODUCTIVITY INCREASED BY 92% (FROM 0.6 TO 8.3 ARA MG/G-DW) AND ITS TOTAL BIOMASS BY 62.7% (FROM 1.9 TO 5.1 G/L) AT A HIGH C/N RATIO (33) AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROL.

WOOD DECOMPOSITION IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS BUT INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIVERSITY OF FUNGI CAUSING DECAY IS LACKING. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR THE TEMPERATE RAIN FORESTS IN CHILE. THESE INVESTIGATIONS SHOW RESULTS OF A BIODIVERSITY STUDY OF WHITE-ROT FUNGI IN WOOD OBTAINED FROM CHILOÉ NATIONAL PARK IN LOS LAGOS REGION, CHILE. CULTURING FROM WHITE-ROTTED WOOD FOLLOWED BY SEQUENCING OF THE COMPLETE INTERNAL TRANSCRIBED SPACER REGION OF THE RIBOSOMAL DNA (RDNA) OR PARTIAL LARGE SUBUNIT REGION OF THE RDNA, IDENTIFIED 12 DIFFERENT SPECIES IN THE BASIDIOMYCOTA. ALL OF THESE FUNGI WERE CHARACTERIZED AS WHITE ROT FUNGI AND WERE IDENTIFIED WITH A BLAST MATCH OF 97 % OR GREATER TO SEQUENCES IN THE GENBANK DATABASE. FUNGI OBTAINED WERE SPECIES OF PHLEBIA, MYCOACIA, HYPHODONTIA, BJERKANDERA, PHANEROCHAETE, STEREUM, TRAMETES, AND CERIPORIOPSIS. THIS REPORT IDENTIFIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CHILE THE SPECIES CERIPORIOPSIS SUBVERMISPORA, HYPHODONTIA RADULA, PHLEBIA RADIATA, PHANEROCHAETE AFFINIS, PENIOPHORA CINEREA, STEREUM GAUSAPATUM, PHLEBIA SETULOSA AND PHANEROCHAETE SORDIDA. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY WAS USED TO CHARACTERIZE THE TYPE OF DECAY CAUSED BY THE FUNGI THAT WERE ISOLATED AND A COMBINATION OF SELECTIVE LIGNIN DEGRADERS AND SIMULTANEOUS WHITE ROT FUNGI WERE FOUND. FUNGI THAT CAUSE A SELECTIVE DEGRADATION OF LIGNIN ARE OF INTEREST FOR BIOPROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES THAT REQUIRE MODIFICATION OR DEGRADATION OF LIGNIN WITHOUT CELLULOSE REMOVAL.

ZN-EDTA DEGRADABILTY BY CATECHOL-DRIVEN FENTON REACTION WAS STUDIED. RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY CENTRAL COMPOSITE DESIGN WAS EMPLOYED TO MAXIMIZE THIS COMPLEX DEGRADATION. THEORETICAL SPECIATION CALCULATIONS WERE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS. FENTON AND FENTON TYPE TREATMENTS ARE TYPICALLY THOUGHT TO BE APPLICABLE ONLY IN THE HIGHLY ACIDIC RANGE, REPRESENTING A MAJOR OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINT. INTERESTINGLY, AT OPTIMIZED CONCENTRATIONS, THIS CAT-DRIVEN FENTON REACTION AT PH 5.5 ACHIEVED 100% ZN-EDTA DEGRADATION; 60% COD AND 17% TOC REMOVALS, USING TINY AMOUNTS OF CAT (50 ?M), FE(III) (445 ?M) AND H2O2 (20 MM) WITH NO EVIDENT FERRIC SLUDGE.