Brown rot fungi utilize iron as part of a chelator-mediated Fenton (CMF) reaction during wood biodegradation. Research suggests these fungi reduce Fe³⁺ to promote oxygen radical generation resulting in depolymerization of the wood cell wall. High levels of Mn are also found in wood decayed by brown rot fungi. However, little is known about the oxidation states of Fe and Mn during the decay process. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) can be used to examine metal oxidation states and coordination chemistry. XANES experiments were conducted on wood decayed by Gloeophyllum trabeum over 2–8 weeks with results showing that Mn²⁺ and Fe³⁺ predominated for metal oxidation states. However, Fe²⁺ was present at sites of greater fungal growth In certain cases, the μXANES measurements showed that the fraction of Fe²⁺ in the wood samples was as high as 50%. Localized areas of reduced iron corresponded with areas of greater fungal hyphal mass which is in agreement with how brown rot fungi decay wood via the CMF reaction. The limited change in oxidation state of Mn observed in wood with active fungal activity suggests that the role of manganese in CMF biodegradation chemistry should be further explored.

棕色腐烂真菌在木材生物降解过程中利用铁作为螯合剂介导的Fenton（CMF）反应的一部分。研究表明，这些真菌会还原Fe ³⁺从而促进氧自由基的产生，从而导致木质细胞壁解聚。在被褐腐真菌腐烂的木材中也发现了高含量的锰。然而，关于衰变过程中铁和锰的氧化态知之甚少。X射线吸收近缘光谱（XANES）可用于检查金属的氧化态和配位化学。XANES实验是在2到8周的时间内对由Gloeophyllum trabeum腐烂的木材进行的，结果表明Mn ²⁺和Fe ³⁺在金属氧化态中占主导地位。但是，Fe ²⁺在某些情况下，μXANES测量表明，木材样品中的Fe ²⁺比例高达50％。还原铁的局部区域对应于较大的真菌菌丝质量区域，这与棕色腐烂真菌如何通过CMF反应降解木材一致。在具有活性真菌活性的木材中观察到的Mn氧化态的有限变化表明，应进一步探讨锰在CMF生物降解化学中的作用。