Studies of the Creosote Fungus, Hormodendrum Resinae

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Abstract
SUMMARY Hormodendrwm resinae Lindau is a fungus that may commonly be isolated from wood products treated with coal tar or coal tar creosote. Five strains of the fungus are described and certain physiological variations revealed. Glucose and lignin were utilized readily as sole carbon sources by the fungus. Sucrose, raffinose, d-mannitol, cellulose, bituminous coal, and petroleum were not readily utilized as sole carbon sources. Ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and peptone were readily utilized as sole nitrogen sources. Sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate and urea were not readily utilized. Increasing concentrations of carbon in the medium were correlated with the radial growth and the sporulation of H. resinae whereas increasing concentrations of nitrogen in the medium were correlated with sporulation but not with radial growth. Coal tar and creosote may serve as the sole carbon or nitrogen source. The sporulation of the fungus with coal tar as the sole nitrogen source is directly proportional to the concentration of coal tar in the medium. The mold is inhibited to the same relative degree as wood-rotting Basidiomycetes by certain distillation fractions of creosote. The mold was tested against some constituent compounds of creosote. Only with certain hydrocarbons was a greater than usual tolerance manifested. A limited in vitro experiment indicated that the mold may deleteriously affect the toxicity of creosote.