Neurospora Growth on Pine Wood

Numerous pine wood pallets were colonized by the cellulolytic-ligninolytic ascomycete, Neurospora, due to the improper curing (drying), transport (non-ventilated) and storage (humid) of pallets within commercial-industrial warehouses in northeast Tennessee. In addition to the orange defacement associated rampant growth of the fungus, a distinctly aromatic odor was detectable in the presence of the pallets en masse. Its growth required either the destruction or chemical decontamination (bleaching) of infected pallets and close monitoring of new shipments of pallets by visual inspection or ATP surface testing. Prevention of this colonization is achievable by holding the core moisture content of the wood at <16% and storage under well-ventilated conditions with <65% relative humidity. Sporulation is activated by heat and dissemination by air currents. Neurospora is an obligate aerobe and is neither a plant nor animal pathogen but a possible aeroallergen (asthma). Neurospora is non-toxigenic (no mycotoxins) and has been used as a human food source or food processing agent.