Synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography imaging and analysis of wood degraded by Physisporinus vitreus and Xylaria longipes.

Incubation of Norway spruce with Physisporinus vitreus and sycamore with Xylaria longipes results in reduction in density of these wood species that are traditionally used for the top and bottom plate of a violin, which follows by enhanced acoustic properties. We used Synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography, to study the three-dimensional structure of wood at the micro-scale level and the alterations of the density distribution after incubation with two white-rot fungi. Micro-tomography data from wood treated at different incubation periods are analyzed and compared with untreated (control) specimens to determine the wood density map and changes at the cell-wall level. Differences between the density of early- and latewood, xylem ray and around bordered pits in both Norway spruce and sycamore are studied. Three-dimensional hyphal networks of the P.vitreus and Xylaria longipes hyphae are visualized inside the cell lumina and their significance on the density of the early- and latewood cells after different incubation periods are discussed. The study illustrates the utility of X-ray micro-tomography for both qualitative and quantitative studies of a wide variety of biological systems and due to its high sensitivity, small structural changes can be quantified.