CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

S. buxifolia is together with Celtis tala a co-dominant tree species of forests in the eastern Buenos AiresProvince (Argentina), whose leaves are resistant to degradation and once fallen into the soil they turn to a dark brown color due to their content of phenolic compounds. Among fungi associated to this litter several Fungi Imperfecti have been found, being Ciliochorella sp. frequently found on this substrate. The aim of this work was to analyze the effect of the fungus on S. buxifolia litter degradation in-vitro. Litter decay was assessed based on mass loss, FTIR analysis and also on parameters of water soluble fractions. As a result of fungal growth along a 60-day period, S. buxifolia leaf mass was degraded by 4.7%, which was coupled to degradation of polymers such as lignin, polysaccharides and proteins even though we detected activity of cellulases but not of laccases/peroxidases. As a conclusion we can state that even though S. buxifolia litter is recalcitrant, Ciliochorella sp. induced partial decay of it by cellulase activity and also by inducing a reduction in proteins and lignin-like compounds.