- Wood rot and biofuels are paired in new research published in the current online edition of the July 14 issue of Science. The findings of a global team of cellulose researchers include work by Professor Barry Goodell, head of Virginia Tech’s Department of Wood Science and Forest Products in the College of Natural Resources and Environment.

Researchers have been studying how plants are decomposed at the end of their life span in order to provide insight into several important issues ranging from the development of cellulosic biofuels to the cycling of carbon in the environment. How woody plants evolve and how fungi, the primary decomposers of wood in the forest, work symbiotically with them is important for the development and sustainable production of biofuels, says Goodell.