Detection of wetwood in living poplar trees by electrical resistance measurements

Wetwood was detected in living trees by determining the electrical resistance patterns across the stem with a Shigometer. The resistance of wetwood to a pulsed electric current was low compared with that of healthy sapwood. Bacteria were isolated from wood with low resistance, but rarely from wood with high resistance. Provided that drilling and measurements were performed in a stepwise fashion, the extent of wetwood could be assessed with little damage to the trees tested. This procedure may be useful in identifying trees containing wetwood, particularly in the early stages before crown symptoms become apparent.     

Wetwood formation as a host response in white fir

A bacterium associated with wetwood of white fir did not cause wetwood in inoculated trees, and wetwood formed while external water was excluded. Wetwood formed in response to various injuries, suggesting that it is a host response to parenchyma death.     

引起杨树湿心材的一种病原真菌--Fusarium proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg

在我国,杨树湿心材是一种分布广危害严重的病害。１９９５～１９９６年从湖北、山东、河北、辽宁等省及北京地区的２０多种杨树的根、干部取样,分离到一种真菌,此菌在杨树的根、干部都有广泛的分布,依据其形态特征和培养形状,据Ｎｅｌｓｏｎ,Ｔ．Ｍ．（１９８３）《ＦｕｓａｒｉｕｍＳｐｅｃｉｅｓ》,此菌被鉴定为Ｆｕｓａｒｉｕｍｐｒｏｌｉｆｅｒａｔｕｍ（Ｍａｔｓｕｓｈｉｍａ）Ｎｉｒｅｎｂｅｒｇ。室内和田间的多次接种结果表明,Ｆ．ｐｒｏｌｉｆｅｒａｔｕｍ致病力强,能产生典型的湿心材症状,是引起我国杨树湿心材的主要病原之一,这在国内外还是首次报道。电镜观察表明,此菌能破坏杨树导管—射线间纹孔膜,与国内外有关纹孔膜的报道一致。本文还讨论了细菌及生理因素在湿心材形成过程中的可能作用。     

Populations of bacteria in poplar stems

Wetwood taken from euramerican hybrid poplars (Populus×euramericana) generally contained large and diverse populations of bacteria. The distribution of bacteria within tissues was discontinuous in both radial and axial directions. Most of the common bacterial strains were capable of altering wood components. The bacteria most consistently associated with wetwood were identified as Enterobacter and Clostridium species. The Enterobacter was hemicllulolytic and one Clostridium strain could degrade pectin in anaerobic conditions. These bacteria may play an important rote in the development of wetwood in poplar.     

毛白杨无性系湿心材比例的遗传分析

对毛白杨无性系测定林分内25个无性系150棵单株木芯试样的湿心材比例进行测定和遗传分析。结果表明:无性系间湿心材比例差异达到5%显著水平,湿心材比例的无性系重复力高达0.749,受中度遗传控制,在无性系间进行可获得良好效果;湿心材比例与木质素含量及与木材基本密度之间无相关性,对这3个性状可以进行单独选择;湿心材比例与胸径之间在1%水平上呈极显著的负表型相关性和显著的负遗传相关性,可联合选择;在所研究的25个无性系中,可选择1232#无性系,它的湿心材比例较低、木质素含量较低、材色较白,且胸径较大。     

The characterization of wetwood in western hemlock

Summary One of the problem areas in the kiln drying of western hemlock lumber is the wide variation in final moisture content of the wood. This variation in moisture content is due to the presence of sinker or wetwood in the heartwood. The features of wetwood which differentiate it from the normal heartwood include higher specific gravity, higher extractives content, and lower permeability. The apparent higher specific gravity can be fully accounted for by the higher extractives content. The principial extractive is α-conidendrin. The wetwood in western hemlock often occurs together with ring shake and under these circumstances the white deposit on the shake surfaces is also α-conidendrin and not matairesinol, the substance usually associated with ring shake in western hemlock. A viewpoint is presented on the origin of wetwood as the endproduct of a reaction by the tree to injury, i.e., ring shake, in which additional extractives are deposited. The extractives result in a greatly lowered permeability, which prevents loss of moisture during heartwood formation and thereby resulting in wetwood. Bacteria usually found in wetwood and responsible for many of the symptoms associated with wetwood are a result of the high moisture content which favors bacterial growth in wood. Presumably, the two primary sources of loss in kiln drying of western hemlock, shake and wetwood, are often intimately associated. The authors appreciate the assistance of Allen H. Doerksen and Louis W. Hamlin of the Forest Research Laboratory. All samples collected for this study were donated by Willamette Industries, Inc., Dallas, Oregon, and a portion of the research was supported by the Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University.     

The significance of anomalous extractives in heart-shakes in Dacrydium species

Summary Morphological and chemical examinations of the extractives of the tissues and shake contents of eight Dacrydium and one Podocarpus species have been made. The whitish deposits in heart-shakes are without exception mainly podocarpic acid (PCA). This compound occurs also in the tissue of samples but only when shakes are found nearby. Accordingly PCA is regarded as an anomalous extractive, synthesized in response to those conditions resulting in shake formation. In samples with shakes PCA is present in very small amounts at the sapwood-heartwood boundary and in one sample there were traces even in the innermost sapwood. It was notable that shakes containing deposits can arise in those Dacrydium species with coloured heartwood and with a known tendency for wetwood formation. On the other hand Dacrydium franklinii does not develop coloured heartwood or wetwood or shakes, and the lack of these features may have taxonomic significance.The third author expresses his gratitude to the Division of Building Research, CSIRO, Highett, Vic., for a visiting Fellowship during 1974.     

Occurrence and significance of bacteria in living trees of Populus nigra L.

On the occurrence and significance of bacteria in living trees of Populus nigra L. Eleven strains of bacteria were isolated from sapwood and heartwood of living poplar trees (Populus nigra L.) and identified mostly as Erwinia, Xanthomonas, Agrobacterium and Acinetobacter. Most of them were able to attack milled wood and the wood components pectin, hemicelluloses and holocellulose; α-cellulose and lignin were not consumed. The capillary liquid in the xylem of poplar served as a nutrient for the isolated bacteria. The significance of these bacteria for wetwood formation is discussed.     

Properties of reaction zones associated with decay from pruning wounds in plantation‐grown Eucalyptus nitens

Summary Decay columns resulting from naturally infected pruning wounds in 5‐ to 8‐year‐old plantation‐grown Eucalyptus nitens in Tasmania are interfaced by a reaction zone in the sapwood. The reaction zone is blue‐purple in colour and occasionally associated with a white zone at the reaction zone/healthy sapwood interface. A log incubation experiment has shown that the reaction zone is particularly durable against decay. The reaction zone is significantly drier than healthy sapwood, with lower levels of potassium, and a lower pH than both sapwood and heartwood. The increased total phenols levels and abundant tyloses in the reaction zone may be particularly important in defence.     

Changes in water distribution in heartwood along stem axes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis>

 Three-dimensional distribution of water in the heartwood of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don was observed by soft X-ray photography. The within-tree variation in the distribution of “wet areas” (water-accumulated areas in heartwood) was enormous, as was the variation among trees. Although we found no universal pattern of changes in wet area distributions along the stem axes of all trees, similarities among individual trees within each cultivar and clone were observed. The difference between the two kinds of wetwood in C. japonica – genetically defined wetwood and secondarily induced wetwood – is discussed, as is the use of soft X-ray photography in Japanese tree breeding programs. Received: December 21, 2001 / Accepted: May 1, 2002 Part of this paper was presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Kumamoto, Japan, April 1996 Correspondence to:R. Nakada     

Vibrational properties of wetwood of todomatsu (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Abies sachalinensis</Emphasis>) at high temperature

The object of this study was to understand precisely the drying characteristics of wetwood of todomatsu (Abies sachalinensis Mast.). For this purpose, the vibrational properties of wetwood of todomatsu at high temperature were compared with those of normal parts that had lower green moisture content than the wetwood. Specimens were cut respectively from the wetwood and normal parts, and matched in the radial direction. The specimens and the measuring systems were placed in an electric drying oven and free-free vibration tests were conducted in the oven under absolutely dry conditions. The wetwood and the normal parts were tested separately. The temperature was raised from room temperature to 200°C and then lowered to 50°C in steps of 25°C. The specific Young’s modulus decreased with an increase in temperature during the heating process while it increased with the decreasing temperature during the cooling process. There was no significant difference in the specific Young’s modulus between the wetwood and the normal part at all tested temperatures. The loss tangent took a minimum value at about 100°C in both the heating and cooling processes. There was no significant difference in the loss tangent between the wetwood and the normal part. Thus, the elastic and viscoelastic behaviors of the wetwood appear to be similar to those of the normal part in the temperature range of an actual kiln-drying process.     

Anatomische Befunde im Naßkernbereich der Wurzel von Abies alba

Zusammenfassung An Wurzeln mit unterschiedlich stark ausgepr?gtem Na?kern wurden anatomische Untersuchungen der Markstrahlzellen durchgeführt. Als Kriterien dienten die in den Zellen abgelagerte St?rke, Verf?rbungen des Zellinhaltes und das Auftreten von Bakterien. Ver?nderungen sind nicht auf den Na?kern beschr?nkt, sondern k?nnen auch au?erhalb desselben auftreten. Die Ursachen für die teilweise scharfe Begrenzung der Ver?nderungen an den Markstrahlzellen auf den Na?kernbereich sind noch unklar.

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Anatomical conditions in the wetwood zone of the root of Abies alba

Summary In roots of silver fir which showed more or less distinct wetwood areas, the disappearance of carbohydrates, discoloration of cells, and the presence or absence of bacteria were investigated in parenchymatic ray cells. Alterations are not restricted to wetwood but also may occur outside of it. The causes for the restriction of alterations in ray cells to the wetwood, which sometimes could be observed, is still unknown.

     

Soft X-ray observation of water distribution in the stem ofCryptomeria japonica D. Don I: General description of water distribution

Water distribution in green stems ofCryptomeria japonica D. Don was observed by soft X-ray photography. In the sapwood, much water was present and evenly distributed. In the intermediate wood (the white zone), little water was present. The intermediate wood appeared in all cross sections of the stem and separated the heartwood from the sapwood in the intertracheid water connection. Maldistribution of water was generally observed in the heartwood, and three types of water presence were distinguishable: a “wet area” with accumulated water, a “dry area” with little water, and a “moderate moisture area” with intermediate accumulation. The distribution pattern and amount of water in the heartwood varied dramatically among and even within trees. Separation of the heartwood from the sapwood in the intertracheid water connection suggested that the presence of water in the heartwood was caused by rewetting of the tracheid lamina that occurred after heartwood formation. The maldistribution of water in the heartwood suggested that a difference in the process of rewetting causes both uneven distribution and the various types of water presence.     

Differential spread of discoloured and non‐conductive sapwood among four Fagaceae species inoculated with Raffaelea quercivora

To reveal the relationship between the susceptibility of Fagaceae species to Raffaelea quercivora Kubono et Shin‐Ito and the tangential expansion of regions of discoloured and non‐conductive sapwood among the species, we inoculated branches of three Quercus species and one Castanopsis species with the fungus. The sapwood around the inoculation hole in all four species became non‐conductive in response to the infection before the discolouration. The expansion of the region of non‐conductive sapwood ceased within 2 weeks after the inoculation. The region of non‐conductive sapwood in Q. crispula and Q. serrata was larger than that in Q. glauca and C. cuspidata var. sieboldii. These results suggest that the region of non‐conductive sapwood expanded soon after the infection by R. quercivora. It was also clear that the transverse non‐conductive sapwood has close relationship with the susceptibility among Fagaceae species to R. quercivora.     

Aspirated pits in wetwood and micromorphology of microbial degradation in subalpine fir

Differentiating from normal wood, pit membranes in wetwood of subalpine fir contain bacteria of water drop shape or orbicular shape, and flaky shape, as observed using Scanning Electronic Microscope. Not only are ray parenchyma cells in wetwood partially degraded but also margo strands in pit membranes are somewhat degraded by bacterial activities. Most of the bordered-pit membranes in normal wood are unaspirated in green conditions and the proportions of aspirated pits in earlywood and latewood account for only 6.8% and 13.4%, respectively. Nevertheless, most of the bordered-pit membranes in wetwood are aspirated in green conditions and the proportions of aspirated pits account for 77.7% and 72.1%, respectively. The problem of hard-to-dry for subalpine fir could be reasoned from the considerable amount of aspirated pit membranes in wetwood. __________ Translated from Journal of Nanjing Forestry University (National Science Edition), 2006, 30(1): 53–56 [译自: 南京林业大学学报 (自然科学版), 2006, 30(1): 53–56]     

湿心材研究进展

笔者对国内外湿心材研究进展作了全面的概述,并提出研究中存在的问题,在此基础上提出了我国杨树湿心材未来研究方向。国外对于湿心材研究对象包括多种树种,研究的内容涉及湿心材的形成、湿心材中的细菌、液体和气体、湿心材的特征和湿心材检测等方面。我国湿心材研究的广度和深度与国外存在一定差距,杨树是我国主要速生造林树种之一,今后应该加强杨树湿心材病原、抗性育种和防治等方面的研究。     

洞庭湖区美洲黑杨湿心材化学特性及遗传变异

对洞庭湖区12个美洲黑杨品种的木材化学组分和湿心材比例及其遗传变异进行分析.结果表明:美洲黑杨湿心材中的灰分、1％氢氧化钠抽出物等化学特性均高于正常材;对他们进行相关分析表明,湿心材比例与胸径、灰分含量、酸不溶木素含量和多戊糖含量呈不显著负相关,与1％氢氧化钠抽出物含量呈不显著正相关;12个美洲黑杨品种间湿心材比例在0...     

Growth and enzyme production by Bacillus subtilis and Flavobacterium pectinovorum in Picea sitchensis

Summary When Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is stored in water, an increase takes place in the permeability of the wood. This increase is due to bacterial degradation of the tori and bordered pit membranes and partial degradation of the crossfield pits. It has been demonstrated that two bacteria—Bacillus subtilis and Flavobacterium pectinovorum—isolated from this water stored wood, grow and produce amylase, xylanase and pectinase in sapwood blocks suspended in sterile pond water. Since these organisms have also been shown to increase the permeability of sapwood blocks, it has been concluded that they are primarily responsible for the permeability changes that occur when spruce poles are stored in lake water.When the two organisms are incubated together in sapwood blocks, growth of F. pectinovorum is synergistically affected, while growth of B. subtilis is antagonised. However, no antagonism of enzyme production was evident. The levels of biological activity in the sapwood in these laboratory experiments were much higher than the values observed in the natural lake system. The concentration effect obtained in the laboratory system, in contrast to the dilution effect occurring in the lake environment, is undoubtedly responsible for this variance. Results indicate that the rate at which permeability changes occur could possibly be accelerated by replacing the natural lake system with an enclosed tank system.     

Separating Norway spruce heartwood and sapwood in dried condition with near-infrared spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis

Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] heartwood and sapwood have differing wood properties, but are similar in appearance. An investigation was made to see whether near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) could be used with multivariate statistics for separation between heartwood and sapwood in dry state on tangential longitudinal surfaces. For classification of wood into sapwood and heartwood, partial least square (PLS) regression was used. Orthogonal signal correction (OSC) filtering was used on the spectra. This study shows that a separation of sapwood and heartwood of spruce is possible with NIR spectra measured in a laboratory environment. The visible-wavelength spectra have significant influence on the predictive power of separation models between sapwood and heartwood of spruce. All 44 specimens in the calibration set were correctly classified into heartwood and sapwood. Validation of the model was done with a prediction set of 16 specimens, of which one was classified incorrectly.     

Effects of various densities of Ophiostoma ips inoculations on Pinus sylvestris in north‐western Spain

The aim was to determine the inoculation density above which Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is overcome by the blue‐stain fungus Ophiostoma ips that is associated with the bark beetle Ips sexdentatus. In north‐western Spain, stems of 16 Scots pines were inoculated at various densities (0, 400, 800 or 1600 inoculi/m²) along circumferential 100 or 150 cm wide inoculation belts. Each inoculum consisted of a 5 mm diameter cylinder of malt extract agar colonized by the fungus. Three months later, all trees were harvested and trunk resinosis and foliage colour were visually assessed. The percentage of healthy, desiccated, resin soaked, and blue‐stained sapwood, as well as growth productivity indices, were calculated from stem disks cut from within the inoculated zone of each tree. Sapwood‐specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks) of each tree was measured in the middle of the inoculated zone. All parameters of tree vigour changed dramatically to the worse when inoculation densities were above 400 inoculi/m², and foliage changed from green to yellow‐green or yellow when an inoculation density of 800 instead of 400 was used. The percentage loss of sapwood‐specific conductivity (PLC) increased from 30 to 90% and the percentage of healthy, conductive sapwood dropped from 85 to 35% at 800 inoculi/m². No effect of the width of the inoculation belt was observed, and there was no relationship between tree productivity indices and the level of resistance. A non‐linear negative relationship was found between PLC and the percentage of healthy sapwood. It is concluded that tree resistance was overcome and that trees were going to die when the inoculation density was ≥800 inoculi/m².