Wood decay under the microscope

Many aspects of the interactions between host wood structure and fungal activity can be revealed by high resolution light microscopy, and this technique has provided much of the information discussed here. A wide range of different types of decay can result from permutations of host species, fungal species and conditions within wood. Within this spectrum, three main types are commonly recognised: brown rot, white rot and soft rot. The present review explores parts of the range of variation that each of these encompasses and emphasizes that degradation modes appear to reflect a co-evolutionary adaptation of decay fungi to different wood species or the lignin composition within more primitive and advanced wood cell types. One objective of this review is to provide evidence that the terms brown rot, white rot and soft rot may not be obsolete, but rigid definitions for fungi that are placed into these categories may be less appropriate than thought previously. Detailed knowledge of decomposition processes does not only aid prognosis of decay development in living trees for hazard assessment but also allows the identification of wood decay fungi that can be used for biotechnology processes in the wood industry. In contrast to bacteria or commercial enzymes, hyphae can completely ramify through solid wood. In this review evidence is provided that wood decay fungi can effectively induce permeability changes in gymnospermous heartwood or can be applied to facilitate the identification of tree rings in diffuse porous wood of angiosperms. The specificity of their enzymes and the mild conditions under which degradation proceeds is partly detrimental for trees, but also make wood decay fungi potentially efficient biotechnological tools.     

威海地区547例甲真菌病真菌培养结果分析

目的了解山东省威海地区甲真菌病的临床分类、菌种构成等流行情况。方法对547例镜检阳性的甲真菌病患者进行真菌培养、鉴定和临床分析。结果547例患者中真菌培养阳性423例,阳性率77.3%,远端侧位甲下型甲真菌病(DLSO)295例(53.9%),白色浅表型甲真菌病(SWO)36例(6.5%),近端侧位甲下型甲真菌病(PSO)78例(14.2%),全甲营养不良型甲真菌病(TDO)138例(25.2%)。共分离出429株真菌,其中皮肤癣菌354株(82.5%),酵母菌61株(14.2%),非皮肤癣菌霉菌14株(3.3%)。结论山东省威海地区甲真菌病病原体的分布以皮肤癣菌为主,其次为酵母菌和非皮肤癣菌霉菌,红色毛癣菌是最常见的皮肤癣菌,临床类型以DLSO型居多,其他依次是TDO、PSO、SWO。就诊人群中以20～50岁年龄段为最多见。     

镉胁迫对绢毛委陵菜-丛枝菌根真菌共生体根系结构和生理的影响

为从生理水平上揭示绢毛委陵菜（Potentilla sericea L.）-丛枝菌根真菌共生体对镉胁迫的应答机制,以绢毛委陵菜多年生植株为试验材料,分别接种根内根生囊霉（Rhizophagus intraradices）和摩西球囊霉（Funneliformis mosseae）,80 d后以不同浓度的镉胁迫处理并测定菌根侵染率,研究侵染率较高菌种的共生体植株的生理指标变化和结构变化。结果表明：摩西球囊霉较根内根生囊霉对绢毛委陵菜菌根侵染率高,达100%,而根内根生囊霉侵染率为89.33%;接种摩西球囊霉真菌的植物,当镉质量浓度达10 mg?L^-1时,细胞壁小范围破裂、液泡出现变小的趋势,高浓度镉（20 mg?L^-1）处理时,根系细胞壁破裂,细胞无法维持原有形态;镉胁迫下,Cd（5 mg?L^-1）~ Cd（10 mg?L^-1）MDA含量显著上升（P<0.05）,Cd（0 mg?L^-1）~Cd（5 mg?L^-1）SOD活性和脯氨酸含量变化显著（P<0.05）,可溶性蛋白含量和叶绿素含量显著减少（P<0.05）,Cd（10 mg?L^-1）~Cd（15 mg?L^-1）可溶性蛋白含量和叶绿素含量变化不显著（P>0.05）,植物可以抵抗一定浓度范围的镉胁迫。综合来看,接种摩西球囊菌可以增强绢毛委陵菜耐镉胁迫能力,为利用绢毛委陵菜修复镉污染土壤提供了理论依据。     

Lithocarols A-F,six tenellone derivatives from the deep-sea derived fungus Phomopsis lithocarpus FS508

Lithocarols A-F (1–6) possessing novel highly-oxygenated isobenzofuran core, together with a related known compound isoprenylisobenzofuran A (7) were isolated from the marine-derived fungus Phomopsis lithocarpus FS508. Among them, lithocarols A-E (1–5) represent the first examples of poly-ketal derivatives in tenellone family. The structures for all these compounds were fully elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism calculations. Their cytotoxic assay disclosed that compounds 1–4 displayed moderate growth inhibitory effect against four human tumor cell lines with the IC₅₀ values ranging from 10.5 to 38.7 μM.     

Purification and characterization of an extracellular polygalacturonase from the thermophilic fungus,Thermomyces lanuginosus

A polygalacturonase was purified from the thermophilic fungus, Thermomyces lanuginosus to apparent homogeneity by ultrafiltration, acetone precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The enzyme was maximally active at pH 5.5 and 60 °C. The apparent K_M with potassium pectate was 0.67 mg/ml and the V_max was 7.2 × 10⁵ mol/min/mg protein. The apparent molecular weight of the enzyme was 59 kDa and it contained approximately 10% carbohydrate. The enzyme was completely stable at room temperature (32 ± 3 °C) and retained about 50% activity at 50 °C for 6 h. The zymogram of the purified enzyme revealed two activity bands, one of which was a major one. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the enzyme did not show any immunological relatedness with other mesophilic polygalacturonases.     

Development of strategies for the incorporation of biological pesticides into the integrated management of locusts and grasshoppers

• 1 Effective biological pesticides based on oil formulation of deuteromycete fungal spores have been developed for use against locusts and grasshoppers. The isolate IMI 330189 of Metarhizium anisopliae (flavoviride) var. acridum has been registered, extensively field tested and its operating characteristics explored. It should form an powerful component technology in the integrated management of locust and grasshopper pests.
• 2 The particular advantages of Metarhizium anisopliae were found to be efficacy and persistence, low vertebrate toxicity, little environmental impact, conservation of natural enemies and potential for recycling. Additional socio-economic advantages include the possibility of local production, ease of disposal and versatility in use. The principal disadvantages relate to operating characteristics such as slower speed of kill and slightly greater lability in storage than chemical pesticides.
• 3 Strategies are being developed to integrate biological control agents into locust and grasshopper management schemes; for Metarhizium the accent is placed on: (i) treating the pest before it invades crops and (ii) situations with a high premium on environmental issues.
• 4 For some pest situations, fast-acting chemical pesticides will still be necessary for crop protection.
• 5 A cheaper biological agent, such as Nosema locustae, with the capacity to persist in the pest insect population would be useful. Research is recommended on the long-term impact of Nosema in Africa.
• 6 An evaluation of the utility of the manual destruction of egg pods leads to the conclusion that we should consider the possibility of importing egg parasitoids, such as Scelio parvicornis from Australia, into Africa.
• 7 Further development work is needed to clarify the economics and politics of locust and grasshopper control; to improve the regulatory framework for biopesticides; to inform key decision makers of the availability and potential of Metarhizium; and to implement the bio-intensive IPM strategies described.

     

Testing the association between residential fungus and health using ergosterol measures and cough recordings

Questionnaire surveys in several countries have consistently detected an association between symptoms and residential mould growth. Confirmation by objective measures would strengthen the argument for causality. To address this issue, quantitative and qualitative fungal measures (airborne ergosterol and viable fungi in dust) were compared to respiratory symptoms (n = 403) and nocturnal cough recordings (n = 145) in Canadian elementary schoolchildren during the winter of 1993–1994. There was a 25 percent to 50 percent relative increase in symptom prevalence when mould was reported to be present (p < 0.05). However, neither symptoms nor recorded cough was related to objective measures of mould. In conclusion, the inability to find an association between objective measures of fungus and health suggest that either these objective measures, or the traditionally used questionnaire data are inaccurate. This discrepancy limits the acceptance of a causal relation between indoor fungal growth and illness.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.