Decolorization of triphenylmethane dyes by the bird's nest fungus Cyathus bulleri

Decolorization of three triphenylmethane dyes by three bird's nest fungi—Cyathus bulleri, C. stercoreus, and C. striatus—was studied. Cyathus bulleri was found to be the most efficient in decolorization as demonstrated by the disappearance of the dyes from cultures, monitored by decreases in absorbance. Growth of the Cyathus spp. was not affected by the presence of dyes in the cultures. Decolorization of dyes was also observed with extracellular culture filtrates, indicating exocellular activity. Laccase activity, tested in replicate cultures, was found to be maximum during the decolorization period. Nitrogen in the medium had no effect on decolorization.     

Mechanisms of acquired resistance in mouse typhoid

A polyvalent radiovaccine of Salmonella was shown to induce protective immunity in mice. The results revealed that the immunized mice progressively eliminated the challenged organisms and no Salmonella could be isolated after a period of 21 days. In contrast, Salmonella grew in the control mice and reached levels of 10(8) to 10(9) cfu/spleen resulting in the death of animals. Sera from both control and the immune mice were found to lack bactericidal activity. It was further observed that the vaccine induced delayed type of hypersensitivity and that antibody production as measured by bacterial agglutination and passive hemagglutination were low in response to the vaccine. However, the phagocytic activity of the reticuloendothelial system was considerably enhanced by the immunization. The results of experiments with immunosuppressed mice suggested the role of thymus derived (T) lymphocytes in the protection.