Influence of heavy metals on the electrical conductivity of melanized pseudosclerotial plates in spalted woodKalač, Tine (Avtor) Humar, Miha (Mentor) spaltingpseudosclerotial platesKretzschmaria deustamelanin/heavy metalselectrical conductivitymass lossZone lines in wood are formed on the border of two mutually antagonistic fungi. These lines, also known as pseudosclerotial plates, owe their colour to the presence of melanin. Recently, melanin has been studied for its semiconductive properties. Melanin is also known for its ability to absorb various heavy metals. Within our study, we isolated several mutually antagonistic strains of Kretzschmaria deusta, examined the possible toxic effect of the heavy metals on the fungi by measuring growth rates, described a novel method for producing wood with zone lines with the isolated fungi, and assessed the influence of selected heavy metals on the electrical conductivity of melanin in pseudosclerotial plates. We successfully isolated five strains of K. deusta from a naturally infected log. Most of the heavy metals had a negative effect on the fungi, except iron(III) oxide, which was used in producing the final samples. The method for producing zone lines was extremely successful. We assessed that this method could be a good starting point in the development of an industrial process of spalted wood production. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the electrical conductivity measurements could not be performed.[T. Kalač]20202020-10-04 07:15:25Diplomsko delo/naloga121314sl