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Meruliporia incrassata, previously named Poria incrassala which is better known among reporters and repairmen who like to see the public pale as the "house eating fungus. This is a severe wood-rot fungus (a basidiomycete) which is particularly onerous in buildings because, as some writers have claimed, it may to continue to find water for itself even after the original wet-building leaks appear to have been repaired. To obtain its moisture, this fungus has been observed to extend long rhizomorphs through wood structural and non-structural members, both inside the wood and even on other surfaces. It is capable of extending its water supply pumping rhizomorphs over considerable distances to find a needed moisture source. That's why the repair advice is to remove 24 inches or more of wood BEYOND any visible damage and rot. Otherwise you're not getting rid of all of the infected material, and the fungus may re-grow quickly. Not all mycologists agree with this characterization of Meruliporia incrassata, as I elaborate below. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. What Meruliporia incrassata fungus looks like in a building
What Meruliporia incrassata mold spores look like under the microscope
Meruliporia incrassata, Merulius lacrymans, Serpula lacrymans,- Getting the Fungal Names RightSerpula lacrymans has been mistaken in some articles as a European "synonym" for Merilus lacrymans
which I used to characterize as Meruliporia. before Mr. Green was kind enough to set me straight
by generously informing me (email in September 2006) that
Serpula lacrymans and Meruliporia incrassata are completely different species of fungus.
They belong to different families (I use bold italics to indicate the official current names in these lists:
In sum, Merulius lacrymans is just one of many previous names or alternate names for what is now Serpula lacrymans. Serpula lacrymans is the current name for that fungus. Note the spelling difference too. Indeed this is part of the fun of mycology. When mycologists take a break from the field and lab to get together, each time they do the result is a whole lot of shifting around, reclassifying of fungi, and changing of some of them to better or newer names. This process is bound to accelerate as more sophisticated methods for classifying fungi are put to use, such as DNA analysis. The traditional visual bases for taxonomic decisions about what to call things and what families to put them into is being upset and we've discovered that just because two organisms share a lot of features one cannot assume they are close relatives or members of the same family. It was easier in the old days when Talbot's Fungal Taxonomy explained family membership based almost entirely on physical appearance and attributes. But then, he didn't have the tool of DNA analysis. Perhaps Serpula is more commonly identified in Europe and Meruliporia more commonly identified in the U.S. - I'm no longer sure that they don't both occur in both locales. As John Haines says, "all mold is everywhere, all the time." Readers who want to see building-damage-related articles which are often less scientifically rigorous may look up Meruliporia incrassata's reputation under "poria the house eating fungus" or "Meruliporia ..." where they will be deluged with scary articles from the real estate world (and from some home inspectors), wood preservation research, and some more scholarly articles from mycologists. We prefer to use the Meruliporia incrassata name for this U.S. occurring brown-rot fungus. Just do a search on both names and you'll see what I mean. More-accurate details about how Meruliporia incrassata causes rot and grows in buildingsThis is actually a pretty common basidiomycete in older houses which have been exposed to leaks. I have found Meruliporia spores indoors in surface dust samples and (rarely) airborne (when there has been demolition or mold remediation ongoing). When I find these spores in a building I suspect a hidden but serious rot problem. Matt Green, who didn't identify himself but sounds like a mycologist who knows Meruliporia incrassata has suggested some more carefully worded facts about this fungus which I quote or paraphrase here from email received in 2006. Meruliporia's fungal transport of waterFungal rhizomporphal strands do not convey water in exactly in the manner I described in the introduction, though I didn't make that version up myself. Green points out that the extended rhizomorphs sent out by Meruliporia incrassata reduce the exposed surface area of the hyphae, which in turn reduces water evaporation. This saves water, it doesn't move it. Sarah Watkinson goes into more detail in a forthcoming book Fungi in the Environment, Edited by Geoff Gadd, Sarah Watkinson and Paul Dyer, Series: BRITISH MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY SYMPOSIA 25 364 pages, 42 line diags, 48 half-tones, 10 tabs., Cambridge University Pres which you will eventually be able to order at http://www.nhbs.com/title.php?tefno=147466 What to do about fungus-infected structural wood in buildingsGreen added that as long as the timber is dry, no further decay is going to occur. You might get shrinkage once the timber dries, but that's not indicative of active decay. "Current thinking is that removing the source of water, allowing the building to dry and removing decayed timber is a more sustainable approach." He cites Timber Decay in Buildings: The Conservation Approach to Treatment, by Brian Ridout, John Fidler, Ingval Maxwell, ISBN: 0419188207, Spon Press, 1999, and available at http://www.buildingconservation.com/books/a46.htm if you're in the UK or from Amazon.com (US $80 but available used for less). This is a good book which includes advice on obtaining wood rot resistance with less reliance on environmentally harmful chemicals. The tricky part is "as long as the timber is dry" as Green penned in his note. Our field experience suggests that over the 20-year life of a wood-frame building, basements and crawl spaces rarely stay dry except in arid climates where this wood rotting fungus won't be much of a problem in the first place. Indeed no amount of fungal excising is going to be sufficient to protect a building from rot down the road if wet conditions are recurrent. Readers might want to take a look at the articles we provide on how to prevent mold in buildings. ... Technical Reviewers & References
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