Palo Podrido: A Unique Model to Study Selective Delignification of Wood

该奖项支持明尼苏达大学的Robert A. Blanchette和圣地亚哥智利大学的Eduardo A. Trumper在木材去木质素方面的跨学科合作研究。他们将进行化学、生化和结构调查，以确定“帕罗波德里多”（palo podrido）优先降解木质素的机制。“帕罗波德里多”是一种只在智利南部雨林中发现的白腐病。纤维素不会被降解，木材变得极易消化。从真菌进入木材的主要酶，它们如何移动的形态以及它们如何攻击细胞壁中的木质素，都将使用免疫细胞化学方法进行研究。这项研究将提供对分解过程的理解，为新的生物技术提供信息，以及如何将木质素降解真菌中的酶用于工业目的。两位调查人员背景互补，都有出色的资历。圣保罗和圣地亚哥的设施完全适合这项工作，这将是在发展中国家科学方案下进行合作的一个很好的例子。

This award supports interdisciplinary cooperative research in the delignification of wood to be conducted by Robert A. Blanchette of the University of Minnesota and Eduardo A. Trumper of the University of Chile in Santiago. They will carry out chemical, biochemical and structural investigations to determine the mechanisms responsible for the preferential degradation of lignin by "palo podrido," a type of white rot found only in the rain forests of southern Chile. Cellulose is not degraded and the wood becomes highly digestible. The major enzymes, which move from the fungus into the wood, the morphology of how they move and how they attack lignin in the cell walls all will be studied using immunocytochemical methods. The research will provide an understanding of decomposition processes, information for use in new biotechnologies as well as on how to use enzymes from lignin-degrading fungi for industrial purposes. The investigators have complementary backgrounds and both have excellent credentials. The facilities at St. Paul and at Santiago are completely adequate for this work which will be a good example of cooperation under the Science in Developing Countries program.