Moreover, fungal decay of wood in service results in billion-euro losses. Basidiomycetes are the
main wood rotters due to their ability to degrade or modify
lignin, an enzymatic process that originated in the Upper
Devonian period in parallel with the evolution of vascular plants.Wood-rotting basidiomycetes are classified as white-rot
and brown-rot fungi based mainly on macroscopic aspects.Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of wood attack
by several types of fungi. Basidiomycetes can overcome difficulties
in wood decay, including the low nitrogen content of
wood and the presence of toxic and antibiotic compounds. Extracellular oxidative enzymes (oxidoreductases) secreted by
fungi are involved in degradation of cell-wall components (see
below). White-rot basidiomycetes, the most frequent wood-rotting
organisms, are characterized by their ability to degrade
lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose, often giving rise to a cellulose-
enriched white material. Due to the ability of white-rot
basidiomycetes to degrade lignin selectively or simultaneously
with cellulose, two white-rot patterns have been described in different
types of wood, namely selective delignification, also
called sequential decay, and simultaneous rot (Fig. 1C,D).