Erratum to: Extracellular protein production and morphogenesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinula edodes</Emphasis> in submerged culture

Along with a brief review of Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom) submerged cultivation history within the framework of important extracellular proteins biosynthesis, this study contains the authors’ own results. The possibility of regulating the lectin activity of shiitake using the synthetic components is shown. The time course of lectin production in culture liquid of L. edodes in different media under submerged culture conditions was studied. The activity of agglutinins depended on the ratio between carbon and nitrogen sources and the pH of the culture medium. A relationship between the chemical composition of nutrient medium, the activity of extracellular lectins of L. edodes, and the formation of pigmented mycelial film in liquid culture has been found. The formulation of medium, on which the brown mycelial film appears in several days of submerged cultivation, is proposed. The results obtained make a contribution to the present notion of biochemical processes that give rise to the occurrence of the aforesaid morphological structure of shiitake. Finally, two extracellular lectins from the submerged culture of L. edodes have been isolated and purified to homogeneity. Their physicochemical properties and composition have been studied.     

Extracellular protein production and morphogenesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinula edodes</Emphasis> in submerged culture

Along with a brief review of Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom) submerged cultivation history within the framework of important extracellular proteins biosynthesis, this study contains the authors’ own results. The possibility of regulating the lectin activity of shiitake using the synthetic components is shown. The time course of lectin production in culture liquid of L. edodes in different media under submerged culture conditions was studied. The activity of agglutinins depended on the ratio between carbon and nitrogen sources and the pH of the culture medium. A relationship between the chemical composition of nutrient medium, the activity of extracellular lectins of L. edodes, and the formation of pigmented mycelial film in liquid culture has been found. The formulation of medium, on which the brown mycelial film appears in several days of submerged cultivation, is proposed. The results obtained make a contribution to the present notion of biochemical processes that give rise to the occurrence of the aforesaid morphological structure of shiitake. Finally, two extracellular lectins from the submerged culture of L. edodes have been isolated and purified to homogeneity. Their physicochemical properties and composition have been studied.     

Bacterial populations and environmental factors controlling cellulose degradation in an acidic Sphagnum peat

Northern peatlands represent a major global carbon store harbouring approximately one-third of the global reserves of soil organic carbon. A large proportion of these peatlands consists of acidic Sphagnum-dominated ombrotrophic bogs, which are characterized by extremely low rates of plant debris decomposition. The degradation of cellulose, the major component of Sphagnum-derived litter, was monitored in long-term incubation experiments with acidic (pH 4.0) peat extracts. This process was almost undetectable at 10°C and occurred at low rates at 20°C, while it was significantly accelerated at both temperature regimes by the addition of available nitrogen. Cellulose breakdown was only partially inhibited in the presence of cycloheximide, suggesting that bacteria participated in this process. We aimed to identify these bacteria by a combination of molecular and cultivation approaches and to determine the factors that limit their activity in situ. The indigenous bacterial community in peat was dominated by Alphaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria. The addition of cellulose induced a clear shift in the community structure towards an increase in the relative abundance of the Bacteroidetes. Increasing temperature and nitrogen availability resulted in a selective development of bacteria phylogenetically related to Cytophaga hutchinsonii (94-95% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), which densely colonized microfibrils of cellulose. Among isolates obtained from this community only some subdivision 1 Acidobacteria were capable of degrading cellulose, albeit at a very slow rate. These Acidobacteria represent indigenous cellulolytic members of the microbial community in acidic peat and are easily out-competed by Cytophaga-like bacteria under conditions of increased nitrogen availability. Members of the phylum Firmicutes, known to be key players in cellulose degradation in neutral habitats, were not detected in the cellulolytic community enriched at low pH.     

Yeast population of the Kindo Peninsula lichens

Yeast abundance and species diversity in the lichens collected at the Kindo Peninsula (Karelia) were studied. A total of 14 lichen species analyzed belonged to the genera Bryoria, Cladonia, Hypogymnia, Icmadophila, Nephroma, Peltigera, and Ramalina. Abundance of cultured yeasts in lichens was intermediate between soil and phyllosphere. The average yeast number on lichens was ~2.5 × 10³ CFU/g, while it exceeded 8 × 10³ CFU/g on plants and reached only 1 × 10³ CFU/g in soil. Yeast population of different parts of Cladonia lichens was found to vary significantly in abundance, species diversity, and community structure. The highest yeast abundance and diversity were revealed in the growth zone. Fifteen yeast species were isolated from lichens, including 6 basidiomycetous and 9 ascomycetous ones. Unlike soils and plants, yeast population of lichens consisted mainly of ascomycetous species, with predominance of Candida sphagnicola and anamorphous yeasts of the genus Dothiora. These results show that yeasts from different taxonomic and ecological groups are a necessary component of lichens; conditions favoring the preservation and development of specific yeast communities differing from the typical soil and phyllosphere yeast complexes are formed in the lichens of northern taiga forests.     

Cellulolytic streptomycetes from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sphagnum</Emphasis> peat bogs and factors controlling their activity

Two strains of Actinobacteria, ACTY and ACTR, were isolated from cellulolytic microbial communities obtained from an ombrotrophic Sphagnum peat bog. The strains were able to degrade cellulose, the main component of plant phytomass in this ecosystem. On the basis of their phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, the strains were identified as members of the genus Streptomyces. The isolates developed on media without available nitrogen sources and hydrolyzed cellulose within a temperature range of 5–25°C and in the pH interval from 4.5 to 6.0; they also exhibited acetylene reduction activity. Comparative analysis of the rates of cellulose degradation by the peat-inhabiting streptomyces at 5, 15, and 25°C and at pH values of 4.5 and 6.0, with and without a source of available nitrogen in the medium, indicated that high acidity and low temperatures, typical for boreal Sphagnum peat bogs, are the main factors limiting the growth and hydrolytic activity of these bacteria.     

Bacteria of the genus Burkholderia as a typical component of the microbial community of Sphagnum peat bogs

Bacteria of the genus Burkholderia are a typical component of the microbial complex of Sphagnum peat bogs and constitute a substantial portion of the aerobic chemoorganotrophic isolates which are routinely obtained from these environments on an acidic nutrient media. The ecophysiological characteristics of the 27 strains of such organisms, which were isolated from the peat of acidic Sphagnum bogs of the boreal and tundra zones of Russia, Canada, and Estonia, were investigated in the present study. Most of the Burkholderia strains isolated from these bogs were phylogenetically close to the species B. glathei, B. phenazinium, B. fungorum, and B. caryophylli, the typical inhabitants of soil and plant rhizosphere. The bog isolates utilized a broad range of substrates as carbon and energy sources, including organic acids, sugars, polyalcohols, and certain aromatic compounds. All the strains studied were capable of growth on nitrogen-free media. They developed in the pH range of 3.5 to 7.4 and from 3 to 37°C, with the optima at pH 5–7 and 11–23°C, respectively. They were therefore moderately acidophilic, psychroactive, dinitrogen-fixing microorganisms well adapted to the conditions of acidic northern Sphagnum bogs.     

The Antitumor Efficacy of a Complex Based on Two-Vector System for Coexpression of the Suicide Gene <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fcu1</Emphasis> and Cre Recombinase

In this study, we evaluated the antitumor activity of a gene therapy complex in which the tumor-specific control of the expression of the effector suicide gene FCU1 was performed using a two-vector system based on the site-specific Cre–LoxP recombinase system. The complex of interest showed a high therapeutic potential in a mouse colon adenocarcinoma model.     

Steady magnetic fields effect on lipid peroxidation kinetics

The effect of steady magnetic fields (ranging from 0 to 280 mT) has been investigated on the kinetics of non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation occurring in a model system consisting of liposomes obtained from 1, 2-dioleoylphosphatidylcholine by oxygen consumption. The process was found to be accelerated by weak steady magnetic fields. A computer simulation method was employed to detect the reactions that govern the process kinetics, to elucidate magneto-sensitive stages (initiation and reduction of iron(III), as well as lipid peroxide radical recombination) and to determine their rate constants at various external magnetic fields. The kinetics of peroxidation of lipid cell membranes have been modeled mathematically at oxygen and ‘free’ iron concentrations close to those in the cells and also at increased free iron concentrations at different external magnetic field values.