Fig. 3

Pringles™ are a low-cost readily-available material supporting growth measurements of wood-degrading fungi. We measured radial extension rates of four select sequenced strains of industrially relevant wood-degrading fungi on five materials that can be found at the edges of global shipping networks. Extension rates vary up to 4-fold across various consumer materials. P. chrysosporium had the greatest average extension rate, followed by G. lucidum, T. versicolor, and S. commune. Rates below 2 mm/day are shown but are considered to be at the limit of our measurement technique. Statistically significant differences were detected by way of Tukey’s HSD (p < 0.05) for P. chrysosporium and all other strains. Statistically significant differences were detected by way of Tukey’s HSD (p < 0.05) for Cardboard and Softwood Pallet, Pringles™, and NIST RM 8492; between Hardwood Pallet and Softwood Pallet, Pringles™, and NIST RM 8492; between Pringles™ and NIST RM 8492, and Softwood Pallet; and NIST RM 8492 and Softwood Pallet. Radial extension rates for individual plates (points, n = 6 for all conditions except for P. chrysosporium on Softwood Pallet, n = 3), mean extension rates across all plates (bar height), and standard deviation across all plates (error bar) are shown