Annals 



of the 



Missouri Botanical Garden 



Vol* 6 APRIL, 1919 No. 2 



STUDIES IN THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FUNGI 



VI. The Relation of Bacteria to Cellulose Fermentation 



Induced by Fungi, with Special Reference to 



the Decay of AVood 



henhy schmitz 



Rufus J. Lackland Fellaic in the Henry Shaw School of Botany of 



Washington University 



It is a matter of common observation and easy demonstra- 

 tion that bacteria are invariably present when wood decays 

 under ordinary conditions. That a majority of these forms 

 would be the ordinary air and soil saprophytes is only to be 

 expected, yet the presence of cellulose-dissolving forms is not 

 precluded. The purpose of this investigation is to determine 

 whether or not cellulose-dissolving bacteria are habitually 

 present on decaying wood under natural conditions and their 

 influence, if any, on the rate of decay, also to determine 

 whether or not the ordinary saprophytic forms, so universally 

 present, in any way affect the cellulose-dissolving proclivities 

 of the fungus actually causing the decay, by changing the reac- 

 tion of the substratum so that it may be more or less favorable 



for optimum growth. 



Due to the facts that all wood used in this work was first 

 sterilized by autoclaving and that the theories regarding the 

 effect of autoclaving wood are somewhat diverse, it was found 

 desirable, if not expedient, to determine first whether or not 

 this process of sterilizing wood produced new conditions, so 

 that the results would not be comparable to those which might 

 obtain under natural conditions. 





Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard., Vol. 6, 1919 



(93) 





