''Coriolopsis gallica'' is a fungus found growing on decaying wood. It is not associated with any plant disease, therefore it is not considered pathogenic. For various ''Coriolopsis gallica'' strains isolated, it has been found, as a common feature of the division ''

Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

'', that they are able to degrade wood components, mainly

lignin Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity ...

and to lesser extent

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

, which results in a degradation area covered by the accumulating -white- cellulose powder. Therefore, ''C. gallica'' might generically be called, as with many other basidiomycetes, a "white-rot" fungus. This feature of preferential degradation of

components, such as

melanoidin Melanoidins are brown, high molecular weight heterogeneous polymers that are formed when sugars and amino acids combine (through the Maillard Reaction) at high temperatures and low water activity. They were discovered by Schmiedeberg in 1897. Melan ...

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of ...

s, and other aromatic compounds is of biotechnological interest in the industries of paper (recycling and bleaching), beer and sugar cane production and for the

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and plants), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, water, soil, flue gasses, industrial effluent ...

of waste waters produced in these and other industrial activities. While in Basidiomycota, the lignolytic activities are jointly played by enzymes such as

laccase Laccases () are multicopper oxidases found in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Laccases oxidize a variety of phenolic substrates, performing one-electron oxidations, leading to crosslinking. For example, laccases play a role in the formation of l ...

manganese peroxidase Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

s and

lignin peroxidase In enzymology, a lignin peroxidase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :1,2-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)propane-1,3-diol + H2O2 \rightleftharpoons 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde + 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethane-1,2-diol + H2O Thus, the ...

s, in ''Coriolopsis gallica'', as well as in the phylogenetically related ''

Trametes ''Trametes'' is a genus of fungi that is distinguished by a pileate basidiocarp, di- to trimitic hyphal systems, smooth non-dextrinoid spores, and a hymenium usually without true hymenial cystidia.Ryvarden L. (1991). "Genera of polypores: Nomenc ...

'' spp., laccases (even in multiple genomic copies) are the main mechanisms involved in lignin modification. In other well-studied white-rot basidiomycota, for example ''

Phanerochaete ''Phanerochaete'' is a genus of crust fungi in the family Phanerochaetaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Finnish mycologist Petter Karsten in 1889. Marinus Anton Donk redefined the limits of the genus in two publications in 1957 and ...

'' spp., virtually no laccase activity is involved in lignin biodegradation.
Google Scholar search of "Coriolopsis gallica", retrieved on May 15, 2009

References

Polyporaceae Fungi described in 1821 Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries {{Polyporales-stub