Fungal colonization of wood and wood products inside the buildings of Sari, northern Iran

Fungi are placed in the kingdom Mycota and can colonize wood and wood products. Colonized fungi liberate spores in to the air, and spores can be transported over long distances by air currents. Fungal spores can contain multiple dangerous components such as allergens, antigens and mycotoxins. This study was designed to describe the type and frequency of fungal coloni-zation on wood and wood products inside the buildings of Sari, northern Iran. In this study 17 samples were collected from wood and wood products. The fungal diversity of these samples was investigated by culture-based methods. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Eight fungal genera and 1739 fungal colonies were recognized. The most dominant fungi were Aureobasidium (45%), Cladosporium (37.38%) and Penicillium (8.91%). In conclusion, the results of our study showed that wood and wood products can be colonized by Toxigenic and allergenic fungi including: Aureobasidium, Cladosporium and Penicillium. These fungi can cause damage to woods and change the appearance of wood product. Therefore, it is necessary to pre-vent the growth of fungi on wood and wood products.